The Two Angels
by Sora Matasuki
Summary: When Sora dissapears when heading to get his boat for all three of them, Riku vows to find him, sparking a journey that will unite whole worlds and change people's lives forever. Based off of Sapphire Wing's Magic of the Heart and an AU of the Kingdom Hearts we all know and love.
1. Prologue - Loss

I lost my best friend that night.

His boat had wandered from the shore – the forgetful idiot having forgotten to tie it on the docks, so he had gone off to look for it.

He never came back.

We waited for about twenty minutes before me and Kairi got worried, the anxiety and what ifs making our feathers twitch in the moonlight.

"Let's go look for him, the idiot's probably fallen asleep somewhere." I said to her, helping her up even as her white wings flare to compensate.

"Okay…" She murmered quietly, and we set off, sand crunching underneath our feet as we follow Sora's large footsteps towards the docks when suddenly the footprints multiply and Sora's tracks veer off towards our secret cave.

Disturbances in the sand disturbingly resemble the aftermath of whenever Sora and I would compete to see who had mastered their spell work and blade skills the most after our lessons, scorched sand turning into small piles of glass from high intensity spells.

It made my blood grow cold just thinking about it.

But why hadn't he called for help? We would have heard him, we weren't that far… so why…

I don't know and it's a question I ask myself every day, and will keep asking myself until I find him.

"C'mon!" I call to Kairi and we start running to the place that held so many memories here, on this island.

As our eyes adjust to the darkness within the hidden sanctuary, I feel the feathers belonging to y black wings flaring in anger and my caged Inner Darkness stirs with a furious mutter before I force it back into control with a jolt of Light from my Moon magic.

"R-Riku…." Kairi breathes out horrified, her angelic wings spread ramrod straight in her shock.

I kneel down and pick up the pieces of the lucky charm Kairi had given Sora – the gift Sora had treasured and would have never willingly let it fall and break – from it's resting place amongst a pool of blood, cradling it to my chest despite the blood coating my hands. _Sora…_

"Can you see what's happened to him, Riku?" she whispered tearfully. I nod, closing my eyes, concentrating on the remnants of Sora's Sun Magic lingering on the broken shell bracelet.

* * *

_Warm laughter – a smile from Kairi – saying goodbye as the hunt for the boat ensued – black figures that wore masks emulating the faces of death – shadowy darkness oozing out of the in waves of _wrong_. _

_The Keyblade appeared at the sense of it's master's need and distress at the approaching darkness, it's weilder getting into a battle ready stance before starting to run, dodging and blocking their bolts of magic with the Keyblade. _

"_What do you want from me!" _

"_The Dark Lord requires the knowledge you have of the power of the Worlds' Hearts."_

_Stillness before fury. "I'll _never_ tell you or your 'Dark Lord'!" The normally gentle boy snarled, white wings puffing out in agitation as he dodged another barrage of spells._

_A lurch of ground and a sickening spin and suddenly they are fighting in the cave and Sora is on the ground, gasping in pain, blood _plip-plip-ing _onto stone sickeningly._

"_Give up boy."_

"_No. I'll never give up! I'll never give you what you want!" _

_A stick pointed at his throat meanacingly. _

"_I'd watch what you say _boy_." A trickle of blood ran down the point the stick was touching Sora's neck, a small cut appearing causing him to flinch._

_But Sora's eyes were in that familiar determined glint. "Do what you want, you'll _never_ get it – _CONFUTO!_" _

_The bracelet shatters._

_Everything went black._

* * *

"Riku!" Kairi shook me, bringing me back to the present. I grip her wrist as she made to let go.

"Kairi, we need to contact King Mickey!"

"Riku? What? Why…?"

I groan slightly, the use of my powers to glimpse into the past taking a bigger toll than expected, my vison swimming. "They…" I shake my head trying to clear it. "They took… Sora… They want…. Knowledge…. Sora knows…" My head aches, a pounding begins in my ears as my mouth dries up. I swallow heavily, staggering, clinging to her small frame, both sets of our wings held aloft for added balance.

I begin again, despite the fuzziness of my head. "That idiot… They took him because… because he knows… about the Hearts…" I groan again, and sink to my knees as I let go of her, vertigo causing my vision to swim.

"Riku!" I hear her voice over drums and rushing water, but it's faint.

"Kairi…. Get the king… okay? We need to find… him…"

And I fall into unconscious darkness.

* * *

AN: Okay, so I know that a ton of you are wondering what the heck is going on! This is a sort of continuation of Sapphire Wing's Magic of the Heart. I've asked several times of PM if I could continue MotH, but Sapphire Wings has never replied, so don't go off saying I coppied it off of her. I kinda did, but I asked and she never really replied to me. *shrug* so what can you do but give credit where inspiration is due! The differences of the Kingdom Hearts world (mainly just in Destiny Islands is changed) will be becoming more and more clear, as will the culture of Destiny Islands. Please review! I love to hear back from people.

- SM


	2. Chapter 1 - A Shooting Star

_The Two Angels_

* * *

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter One

A shooting Star's Fleeting Radiance

* * *

Fifteen year old Harry Potter scowled at the wilting flower bed, sweat causing his glasses to nearly slide off his face, the heat causing his shirt to stick to his back, fingers stained brown from the dirt.

Despite the heat and the expression on his face, Harry didn't hate this chore that had been shoved onto his shoulders.

Instead, his scow was caused from his thoughts and memories.

A student had died right in front of him, murdered by the same man who had killed his parents and had attempted to kill him as well but had failed… _spectacularly_.

Now the problem with this was that no one believed said murder to be back and the newspapers were calling him bonkers, mad, not right in the head, you get the drift.

His fingers jammed into hot earth, the scowl deepening, taking his frustration out on the ground.

And it didn't help that he was having creepy dreams.

"_Who are you?"_

_The brown haired boy smiled and shook his head, saying nothing._

_A sense of regret and determination filled Harry's chest but he did not know why._

_Blue eyes locked with green and the other boy smiled brightly despite wounds and bruises coating his arms and legs and who knows where else._

"_Why are you here?"_

_The boy made a shushing gesture, eyes twinkling still even as he shook his head as if at a loss._

"_Why won't you speak? Why won't you tell me?"_

And Harry would wake up with the sense of "I can't tell you yet." Leaving him to feel lost and confused. Who was that boy? And why did he keep seeing him?

What did It mean and why was he always hurt?

Harry didn't know and it bothered him.

Just as he finished weeding, his aunt, Petunia Dursley called him in.

"Boy." She greeted, her face taught with worry and a pain that was supposed to be hidden, but Harry could see it plain as day, having seen the same look on his own fac,e in the mirror ever since Cedric had died.

Harry knew that the Dursley's were going through hard times, that his uncle was under suspicion of embezzling money and that Dudley had finally gotten into big enough trouble that the cops were involved.

And most shocking – to him anyways – was the fact that his aunt was worried for_him_ as well, even though she tried to hide it.

At night, those horrible nights when he couldn't sleep for fear of the nightmares looming over his head, those horrible nights when Cedric's lifeless body was before him and Voldemort rose again, those nights when he wandered through the pristine halls like a gaunt gawky ghost, he found her looking into a chest full of little childhood trinkets coated in dust and stamped by a happier time, when she was a young girl and she would clutch the dirty dust coated things with her boney hands and weep over them, her tears washing the items free of dust.

"Lil's what have I done?" a barely audible whisper of remorse. For now – Harry realized – his aunt was seeing the results of her actions clearly for the first time in a long time.

It made his aunt seem more… _human_almost. And Harry himself was starting to notice that the Wizarding World was not the glamorous , charming world he had been introduced to when he was eleven.

Indeed, Harry was beginning to see that the mundane world was far more advanced than the Wizards' and that the divide was going to keep on growing until something split and the Wizarding World would erupt into chaos.

But Harry kept these thoughts to himself, knowing from years of experience that it would do no good, that nobody would listen to a snot nosed brat like himself.

Exhibit A being when he was eleven, McGonagall had refused to believe him when he and his friends had told her about the Philosopher's Stone, Exhibit B when he was fourteen and everyone had turned their backs on him and now more recently, when he had said Voldemort had returned and no one but Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione believed him.

Harry trudged up the stairs and headed into the shower to quickly freshen up and get as much dirt off as he possibly could so he could retire into the sanctuary of his room.

Soon after he finished scrubbing himself squeakily clean, he slipped quietly into his pleasantly messy room, an island of chaos in the ordered perfection that was the Dursley's, messy black hair slightly damp.

With a tired sigh, Harry sunk onto the chair near his open window, where nearby, his owl Hedwig's cage hung open, the winter owl having gone off to hunt while he was in the shower.

It was getting dark now and a warm breeze played tug o' war on Harry's black bangs, revealing flashes of brief moment, a jagged lightning car that rested on his forehead. Despite himself, Harry fell asleep and once again began to dream. But this time, it was different.

Very, very different.


	3. Chapter 2 - Sharing

_This is the story of a boy who was taken by the Darkness, __his best friends left behind_

_ and the teenager who was destined to help save his world from the Darkness that had killed his parents. _

_This is the story, of how in a fight against Dark and Light, Evil and Good, not everything is as it seems and how even in the Darkness, Light can still flourish, if - you, dear reader - are willing to simply... believe. _

_Believe for two Angels are taking flight, a Wizard is searching for the truth and direction, and those of the Dark will fight with everything to keep Light from it's destiny. _

_As you head closer to the light... the bigger your shadow will grow._

_Are you ready?_

* * *

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Two

Meeting

* * *

_Sora!_

Riku reached out his hand, Sora turning to give him a wordless sad smile that didn't reach his eyes before the two dark figures he had seen in his vision sprang up from the depths of the sea and with the sound of sea spray ringing in his ears, watched in horror as Sora was taken from him again.

"Sora! _SORA! NO!_" He howled, sinking to his knees and striking the wet sand, allowing tears to stream down his face as the sea washed the bottom of his wings.

"…so that's his name…" a quiet timid voice came from behind him. Riku whirled, summoning his Keyblade without a thought before stilling in shock.

It was a teenager, about Sora's age or younger, Riku couldn't tell, his green eyes sparkling in concern behind thin rimmed glasses as he held up his hands in a way to show that he held no weapons. Still, Riku was wary, keeping Way to Dawn drawn and out.

"Who are you!" he practically snarled, advancing on the other teen whom backed away, sensing danger was eminent. "And what are you doing here!"

Still, Riku thought wryly to himself, the boy looked remarkably calm for being under Keyblade point but then, maybe the other teen didn't even know how much in danger he was in.

The teenage spoke earnestly, "My name's Harry and believe me, I have no clue on how I am here either." Harry then paused, and said with widening eyes, "You have wings, are you and Sora angels or something?"

Riku frowned, worried that this 'Harry' would then report to the ones who had taken his best friend if he told him the secret of their world. "How do I know that you aren't going to tell them?" he snarled quietly, dangerously. The darkness within his soul stirred at his anger but he stifled it, knowing that the next time it stirred; it would be harder to hold in.

"Harry" shook his head, eyes serious and haunted, something that caused Riku's eyes to narrow in suspicion. Something was going on here…

"No. I'd never do that, I don't know who took your friend exactly, but I can tell that they aren't good. they resemble the people who killed my family."

Riku's eyes shot over to Harry's in shock and the black haired teen smiled bitterly, causing him to look several years older – closer to Riku's own age than Sora's.

Then suspicions formed in Riku's mind again.

"How do you know about Sora?"

Harry looked sad and looked away, "I dream about him, in them, he's always hurt, always so brave and offering me a pain filled smile. I always try to see why he's there, why he's getting so hurt but… he always remains silent."

Riku felt a chill and the light within him resonated with what this teen – this fellow fighter – was telling him.

It was the truth.

With a resigned sigh, the teenager with silver hair turned to walk towards the Curved Papou Tree by the beach where he and Kairi had figured out that something was _Wrong_. "Walk with me… Harry…"

"Ah… wait! You haven't even told me your name!" Harry called, running after the older teen.

"It's Riku. And I have a question, do you believe in Magic?"

Harry blinked, shocked so much that he tripped over a rock that he did not see until it was too late so he crashed to the ground, lanky limbs and all with a startled cry.

Riku glanced back and rolled his eyes. "Clumsy idiot." He snorted.

Harry glared up at the other teen.

"And you, sir, are a _git_." Harry snipped back, scowling.

Riku snorted. "And _you_ haven't answered my question. Do you believe in Magic?"

Harry snorted. "Of course I believe in Magic, I'm a Wizard!"

"Good, that makes things a bit easier then." Riku threw Harry a smirk. "But there are a few things you have to know. First: Light and Dark are not classifications of pure Magic, but of the caster. Second: Magic – or at least ours – is aligned with our Souls and with either the Moon or the Sun, it cannot be both.

"A person either resides in Darkness with their face turned towards the light or lives in the sunlight and always searches for those in the shadows to help. But remember this, Sun and Moon affiliated, it doesn't matter, because the Darkness reaches for every living being that is of Light, seeks to destroy that Light. That goes for even people who aren't aligned with our type of Magic.

"Now coming to your statement about Sora always being silent, my Power with then Moon Magic is seeing what has happened through objects dear to someone, I was able to see that just before Sora was taken by the Dark Forces…" Riku closed his eyes. "Sora cast a _Confuto_ spell, a spell designed to suppress the voice, to keep a person silent even when the body is tortured. And I cannot lift the spell, even if I find him, because a spell cast with Sun Magic _cannot_ be released by Moon Magic."

Harry is silent. "What if…" he licked his lips and tried again. "Is it possible… that others can have your type of Magic?" he asked quietly.

Riku gazed at the younger teen. "I… do not know…" he admitted, looking away, wings fluttering in his agitation.

He truly didn't know. And right then, he wished he did.

Because this green eyed stranger – who had somehow become a friend – was wanting to help, to give him aid when he didn't know anything about him – not about his past, not about his mistakes, not about his Fall into Darkness and how he came back – and still wanted because he _could_.

_But…_ Riku wondered bitterly, _would_ _he help if he knew what I had done? Would he look at me with that same expression that Donald and Goofy had when they saw me? Or would Harry be like Sora, __and forgive me – accept me? _

Riku had no answer and being devoid of answers, was slowly killing him, poisoning him by allowing his Darkness to take root, despite his struggles to prevent it.


	4. Chapter 3 - On His Own

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Three

Leaving Home to New Worlds

* * *

"Riku! Riku don't leave!"

The silver haired teenager did not pause in his step even as his best female friend ran after him, desperation coloring her voice. He stood at the entrance of their Secret Cave, and finally he turned to her, already garbed in the long disbanded Organization XIII's black cloak that he had stolen so long ago it seemed.

"Kairi."

She froze at the unhidden pain in his voice, her blue eyes wide.

He glanced away, heart in his throat as he choked out, "I can't wait for the King to come and get us, Sora needs me. I can't stick around and do _nothing_."

Not when Sora is lying somewhere hurt and mute. Not when Sora needed _him_.

"Then take me with you." Came her prompt reply.

Riku shook his head. "Kairi, you're a Princes of the Heart, the Realms of Inbetween are no place for a pure heart like yours."

"But Axel took me through one just fine!" Kairi protested, trying to get him to see that he didn't have to travel alone anymore.

Riku was already shaking his head firmly. "_No_, Kairi! I can cope with extended amounts of exposure, you can't."

"That's stupid!" she cried out, tears welling up in her eyes.

Inwardly, Riku flinched at making her cry but he remained outwardly cold and closed off, his heart aching as he pushed her more and more away.

It was _his_ fault that Sora had been taken away, it was his fault… if he had jusst gone with him, he would have been able to help him …somehow…

"It's not your fault, Riku." Kairi spoke, knowing what was on her silver hiared friend's mind. "You didn't know."

Riku's hands turned to fists by his sides, teeth gritted in pain as he stood there, stiff and full of bitter self-loathing. "I should have." He muttered, hand coming up to grasp at the folds of cloth over his chest, right where his heart went _thump-thump-thump_ing in his ribcage, the stubborn muscle refusing to stop despite the despair threatening to destroy it, his eyes gazing into the darkness of the secret cave that held dear and precious memories and also deadlier and more painful ones. "My heart… I felt something was wrong… I should have realized … the way it was hurting, he's _always_ in danger when that happens, the trouble attracting idiot…"

Kairi shook her head, red hair falling into clear blue eyes. "Riku if you are to blame then so am I! We both had our Hearts warning us."

Riku said nothing, guilt and despair gnawing at the GuardWalls of light protecting his scarred and wounded heart from the Darkness.

"I… Kairi… _please_…" his voice broke and Kairi hugged him from behind, he lowered his head, hair hiding his eyes despite how she could not see the tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. "Please wait for King Mickey, I don't want to lose you to the Darkness too…"

Kairi held him tighter, arms tightening around a chest toned from fighting the Agents of Darkness.

"…please come home safe, _both _of you. You bring him home to me, you hear?" she choked out against the back of the boy who was like the older brother she never had, sniffling.

Riku knew tears were streaming down her face, feeling it pool into his cloak and into his yellow vest. So he nodded, heart in his throat, but despite how much it pained him to leave, his heart was urging hi to move, to find his best friend.

That if he did not, he would regret it _forever_.

And with Kairi's reluctant blessing, he stepped through the Dark Corridor, closing it before Kairi could follow him recklessly.

He was alone now, alone in darkness that threatened to overwhelm him if he did not keep his shields trong enough, to help them, Riku thought about those whose individual lights anchored him to the Light, as sappy as the thought was.

_Good grief! I'm turning into a girl like _Sora!

The thought came unbidden as a tear ran down his already soaked cheeks, stinging from the chill in the Darkness, sending waves of depression to _smack_ right into the HeartGuard.

Immediately, Riku winced – recognizing the signs for what they were. And so he allowed the emotions swirling inside his heart to reign – but not for long.

Sora's teasing grin flashed into his mind, he allowed it to stir up hope and wry sadness.

* * *

_One…_

* * *

_Race you!_

_If I win I get to name the boat!_

_If _I _win I get to share a Paopu Fruit with Kairi!_

**WHAT?!**

_HAHA! You shoulda seen your face!_

_Bu-wha-bu-_ _**RIKU!**_

* * *

…_two…_

* * *

_NO! I won't let you use me like this! Not anymore!_

* * *

…_three…_

* * *

_Riku!_

_C'mon Sora! Help me close the door!_

_But… you'll be stuck!_

_Don't worry about me – I'll be fine! Hurry – they're coming!_

his blue eyes searched mine and then closed them in despair as our combined efforts caused the door to close, separating us once again. Him in Light and me in Darkness.

It was ok… I had the King with me…

I couldn't convince even myself with the lies I said.

* * *

…_four…_

* * *

_We were stuck… here… me and Sora, stuck in this Dark Place. _

_With no hope of ever returning to see Kairi and our families ever again._

_But then… we found the bottle with the note and hope soared like our newly developed wings, causing us to somehow open the Door to the Light, freeing us from our dark prison. _

_And then…_

_We were _falling_ but it was _exhilarating – _almost_ _like flying! even as we were falling head first into the sea that sent waves of familiarity and homesickness (but we were home! Home! How long had it _been_?!) as we were soon soaked and plunging deep into the depths before swimming back up._

_It felt like it had been an eternity since I had felt the salt of the sea…_

_The King rushed to great me, and with a joyous laugh, I swung my friend up and around and around like an excited child with a stuffed animal on a merry-go-round, overwhelmed by the _bright_ emotions. _

_The two of us then laughed as Sora went down with a squawk of surprise as his dog-man and dug friends dog piled him in a hug, sending all three of them crashing into the surf._

"_Welcome home!" Kairi greeted to both of us, a bright smile on her face and only to me and Sora – we saw her white wings outstretched towards the sun, a joyful greeting in our culture. _

* * *

…_five!_

* * *

Riku lifted his head, his spirits high enough to still maintain his inner balance and stepped out into an alleyway. The teen shrugged off his coat and placed it in his spelled rucksack, the bag never even giving a bulge as you would have a normal mundane one.

Riku took a deep breath, steeled his nerves and entered the flow of the crowd, just another teenager walking to who knows where on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Beika, Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

**AN:**Ok, Kudos on who can guess where Riku's looking first? :D Tell me what you guys think! I'm really, really enjoying writing Riku but please tell me if you guys think he's out of character a bit... I always worry about that...

Well, this is Sora, signing off!


	5. Chapter 4 - Creeping Darkness

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Four

Creeping Darkness

* * *

Riku's eyes shot open as the Darkness inside him stirred, as if the monster inside had sensed a fellow of the shadows and had sent out a pulse of greeting.

A wave of dizziness struck him and he swayed dangerously, suddenly recognizing that taking a nap in a tree was a _Bad Idea_.

The realization was further enforced as the silver haired teen fell _out_ of his tree with a crash, causing rather foul curses to wheeze out of his mouth as he lay there, staring up at the leaves swaying gently in the breeze, idly noting that he was also seeing twinkling stars.

_Wonder which one Sora's in…certainly not here… _floated a feather light thought up from his subconscious.

A young bespectacled face appeared in his field of vision, concern shimmering in the boy's wide blue eyes. "Ni-san! You ok?" he asked brightly, almost a _chirp_.

Riku winced and attempted to sit up but the throbbing in his head caused him to collapse back onto the ground. "Yeah…"

Before the other youth could say anything to show his almost adult disbelief a woman's scream tore through the air, sending the youth running away from Riku like a firework powered rocket during the New Year's festival.

With a groan Riku eventually heaved himself up, swaying so much that he had to grab the tree trunk for balance as bile rose up in his throat.

The Darkness inside him was _slamming_ into his barrier relentlessly now and Riku knew with an absolute certainty that something to do with the Darkness in men's hearts had occurred here.

Every instinct was bellowing that he should leave, that nothing good would come from his staying here.

But the King's words of advice rang in his ears.

* * *

_Follow this world's rules, Riku._

* * *

The advice was sound for every world and Riku knew that if he left, he could ruin any sort of event that occurred, especially since whatever –

"Someone call 119! There's been a murder!"

Ah… great… now he _really_ had to stay, since his leaving could let the criminal get away, unpunished.

Riku's stomached churned, thoughts going back to his time under Maleficent's influence.

Another wave of dizziness hit him, causing him to groan and swallow back bitter bile once more, knees buckling.

"Oi! You, can you go to the front of the park and gather everyone?!"

"Rogger that, Mini-Detective-kun!" a cheery voice – older and slightly tainted by horror – called.

Riku must have closed his eyes, because the net thing he knew the cheery voice was back except he was physically being shaken by the owner. "Oi, you ok? _Oi! _Answer me!"

Riku's eyes fluttered open, mildly surprised to find that he was slumped against the tree, on the ground before his aqua green eyes locked gazes with dark blue eyes full of concern and a fierce optimistic spirit and messy brown hair.

…_Sora? …no… but you… are like him… flying high against the sky, a white bird amidst darkness. You are Kin even worlds apart…_

Riku jerked and shuddered as the Darkness rammed into Light, stronger and more furious than ever before.

* * *

"_Where are the Paramedics – shouldn't they be here by now?!"_

"_Quick! Someone stabilize him – he's having a seizure!"_

"_Get out of the way I'm a doctor, I can help!"_

Riku's grip on consciousness slipped and crumbled, sending him tumbling away from the light of reality and into the darkness of nightmares.

* * *

_Sora was there, standing in the sea, white wing flared up to greet the sun, face upturned away from Riku._

Sora!_ Riku wanted to scream his name but no sound came out, as he ran towards him as fast as he could._

_Sora turned around and smiled strangely, hand outstretched beseechingly. _

_He mouthed something but Riku could not hear him over the roar of the sea and the ringing in his ears as he watched the dark tsunami rising up behind Sora in horror._

Sora behind you!

_A chill breeze whipped Riku's silver hair out of his face, his eyes widening as something grey and molted brushed against his cheek._

"_NO!" he screamed, finally making a sound as the two of them fell into a sick pool of _black_, Sora giving him a frightening smile before his head disappeared from his vision, a smile so out of place with the gentle hearted boy Riku had grown up with._

"NOOO – "

_The darkness filled his mouth and his nose – he couldn't breathe, couldn't see or hear or scream and he was going to suffocate – going to die and no one would know – no one would _care

* * *

…_I'm sorry…_

…_I'm sorry…_

…_I've failed you…_

* * *

_Riku felt the chains of despair pull him down…down….down – deeper and deeper into endless black, his tears mixing into salty darkness._

* * *

_Sora… I swore to protect you from the same mistakes but…_

___…_I'm…sorry…

* * *

_Oblivion came and Riku knew no more._

* * *

_**AN:**  
_

Ok, so I've been struggling with the next chapter and I need people's input, should I skip the mystery of who killed the victim and have Riku wake up to it solved and him being able to slip off without being shipped to the hospital or should he wake up in the midst of the investigation and him watching Conan do his magic? Problem is, my muse is not wanting to cooperate with a mystery so if you _do_ want a few murder mystery chapters, go ahead and tell me what you think the murder mystery should be, give me a few Muse-Zappers if you will (aka give me what you think would happen either in review or PM). It's your choice guys, I really need your input.

This is Matasuki - Signing Off!


	6. Chapter 5 - The Bystander Mystery Part 1

AN: Ok, Kiri Kaitou Clover, you've convinced me and _somehow_ jogged my Muse to start pumping again. I don't know how and I don't know why my Muse has started functioning properly but the fact remains that it's working and I've gotta say "thank you" for that. And you're right, the KH crew gotta watch the locals perform! Hope you enjoy!

And I have to say, a few of the events written here were influenced by my English Teacher, who made us watch and research some articles about the Bystander Effect.

Well, with that out of the way, let's move on! Onwards fellow readers! And enjoy!

* * *

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Five

The Bystander Mystery Part 1

* * *

The Man wanted to giggle out loud at the euphoria of finally – _finally _– achieving what he had _dreamed_ of. But he could not. Instead, he molded his face into a look of horror appropriate for this "tragedy".

"_But… how could this happen to Eri-kun?! He had everything going for him – why would someone _want_ to kill– " _

Choke off at an appropriate time, blink back tears.

The fools don't even realize that he's perfected crying on demand when he figured out that it wasn't normal to _not_ cry when in emotional pain.

Inside, despite the fake tears, he's dancing around a bon fire gleefully.

Call me sociopathic, huh? Call me a freak? Ha!

Who's had the last laugh _now_, huh?

_Huh?!_

Nearby, the strange silver haired teen stirs uneasily, feeling the darkness within the man's heart without ever waking. But soon, the boy – a tormented hero who had once lost his way – was to awaken once more and would be instrument in helping the Man's downfall.

* * *

Edogawa Conan had foolishly hoped for just _one day_ without a murder. Just. One. Day.

But… that was wishful thinking on his part.

Conan looked around at the gathered suspects, they all having relocated from the scene of the crime so a) they would not tamper with evidence and b) so the little children visiting with their parents would not be traumatized by a glimpse of the mangled body.

Conan himself did not count – he _was _in truth a seventeen year old trapped in a seven year old's body …but no one else was supposed to know that.

They had all naturally gathered towards where the silver haired teenager who had fallen out of the tree just before who was now lying calmly, having started shaking from a seizure just as most of the nearby people had gathered, acting as a siren's call to the boy's distress.

Conan shivered at the memory of the other teen's fevered murmurings before eventually being able to lay still. A word – possibly a name, repeated, over and over.

_Sora._

_Sky. _

But what did it mean and was it tied into what had happened?

The conveniently on hand doctor in the crowd had declared that the seizure had been naturally induced – not through drugs – as the teen _had _fallen out of a tree and most likely had hit his head on the way down. The theory was further backed up the nasty cut on the teen's temple and the heavy amount blood that was streaming down his face.

Conan had caved to the facts and ruled the teenager out of his mental list of suspects.

Already, several people had been ruled out due to validated alibis.

The messy haired teen – Kuroba Kaito – had been on the other side of the park with his friend Nakamori Aoko (who, Conan thought with a sweatdrop, looked remarkably like Ran…), when Kuroba had head the scream, he ran as fast as he could to find the source, to see if he could help; which was validated by two other witnesses, also with good alibis.

And help, Kuroba did. If Kuroba hadn't gathered up everyone else, Conan was sure that the silver haired teen would have hurt himself even more than he had! It also helped that Conan was able to narrow down the suspect list considerably, and now they knew the identity of the victim, a one Hisoka Eri.

And Hisoka-san's death was not pretty.

He died with a look of terror on his face, his hands bound on his chest as if he were about to pray and a gag preventing his screams for help and mercy to not be heard, tear tracks streaming down the man's face, still wet on his cheeks, his throat slashed and stab wounds all over his body.

His corpse was found in broad daylight.

It was a terrifying and horrible notion that no one had noticed the torture and murder occurring, right under their noses.

And the body was still warm, Hisoka-san's death had been recent. _Too_ recent.

Conan frowned, brow furrowing, making him look older than he should have.

_Fresh tear tracks… warmth still radiating off his body like it was still alive… blood still seeping out of his wounds…_

His blue eyes widened behind useless glasses.

_It cant be…_

He whirled around, searching for something. His eyes landed on a blood soaked carved figurine half hidden by the bushes.

…_is it possible?_

A commotion brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see the silver haired teen sitting up slowly with the aid of Kuroba and the good doctor Kamiya-sensei.

Determination building, Conan headed over towards the disoriented teen. He had to warn them!

* * *

"What… happened…?" Riku mubled, looking up blearily at the two swimming faces.

With a groan he closed his burning eyes, his heart speeding up at the thought that he would have to hide his eyes once more before a calm wave of peace filled his mind and washed away all the pain and the fear and sent the self loathing and despair to the darkness where they would most likely be dealt with at a later date.

But not today. _Never _today.

"You had a seizure, most likely from the nasty bump on yer 'ead."

Riku nodded, hand moving up to touch the nasty gash on his forehead and winced, finally registering the pain causing his head to throb like the steady heart beat that still pounded in his chest.

"A-le-le-le!"

The silver haired teen looked up as the same boy with glasses ran up and tugged on the Almost-Like-Sora's purple shirt. "Kaito-nii-san! I don't think he's gone!"

Riku's eyebrows creased. _Who? Who's not gone? Wait – _his aqua blue eyes widened.

"Kaito-nii-san" looked concerned. "The killer you mean?"

The young boy nodded, face serious. "Yeah…"

Riku felt his pulse quicken. _Bad enough that there's a killer on the loose but there are _kids _here! _Riku thought savagely.

"but, Kaito-nii-san! I found this! In the bushes!"

All three of them glanced down and stiffened at the blood soaked wooden figurine of a horse.

It looked like a play thing. And on one of the back hooves, were two letters scratched on as if an afterthought.

_HA_

"'H… A…'" Kaito murmered. "What does it mean?"

All of them were serious for a moment before a loud commotion brought their attention towards two people, a woman and a man who were shouting at eachother.

"It's probably all your fault! If you hadn't gone off and left him alone then who knows what could have happened! You could have prevented this from ever happening!" the man yelled in the woman's face.

"Like you actually care! You and Eri never did see eye to eye! How was I supposed to know that he'd end up d – " the woman choked and the man looked away, hands grasping a wooden figurine as if it would save him from reality.

"Maa, maa!" Kamiya-sensei said beseechingly, trying to calm the two furious parties. "What's this all about?"

Riku noticed that the young boy was walking up to the man, innocence radiating from his body posture in a way that screamed fake to his trained eye. This kid was up to something…

But what?

It was obvious that this kid was more than he seemed.

* * *

AN:

Erm… sorry, I swear that there's gonna be more coming soon… but this is all I've got right now and I wanted to post some more stuff! Hope everyone likes this beginning stage of the mystery! …and I really hope I don't disappoint those who are familiar with Detective Conan, I'm a better reader than writer when it comes to murder mysteries… and yes, I know it's short, bear with me. The Muse wanted to call it a day…


	7. Chapter 6 - The Bystander Mystery Part 2

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Six

The Bystander Mystery Part 2

The Bloody Figurine

* * *

"Ne! Ne! Ji-san! Can I see your figurine?"

Riku blinked as the kid 'innocently' asked his question. The sugary sweetness was making him want to gag.

"You ok?"

Riku glanced up and nodded slightly.

"Here, lemme help ya up." The older teen said, offering a hand which Riku gratefully accepted. "Name's Kuroba Kaito, I was the one to find you just before your seizure."

Riku nodded. "Hakumei Riku. And… thanks, for finding me."

Kuroba nodded, a cheerful grin on his face. "You're welcome, Hakumei-kun!"

Once again, Riku was painfully reminded of Sora, the one who always smiled. While for himself… he found it hard to do so.

"Ne… Hakumei-kun, something wrong?" Kuroba asked, leaning into Riku's face with a pout.

Riku jerked out of his thoughts and irritably pushed the teen out of his personal space, a scowl on his lip which then softened into a rueful smile. "Sorry… it's just… you remind me of a friend. You two are quite alike."

Kaito grinned, leaning back against the tree, his hands resting comfortably behind his head. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Riku snorted besides himself. "It was meant to be one." He told Kuroba.

"Oh well that's –"

"Al-le-le-le! Ji-san! Did you make this yourself?" the kid spoke again, eyes shinning strangely, all childish adoration and none of the slight panic that had been present just minutes before when they had all been talking. "…ara? This part's unfinished! There's no tail!"

"Ne… Kuroba-kun…" Riku easily slipped into the customary honorifics of this world, Keyblade quickly feeding information to his heart, allowing him to know what to say and how to blend in like a local. "Who is he? The kid, I mean."

Kuroba looked at the young boy with a fond glint in his dark blue eyes. "That's Edogawa Conan, detective prodigy extraordinaire." For some reason the brown haired teen winced. "And when you see him inflate his soccer balls, get out of the way. His kicks _hurt._" He advised out of the blue.

Riku blinked and fought back the sweatdrop that was gathering on the back of his head.

"Yeah gaki, I did, though the tail broke off…"

Conan made an oohing noise, cupping the small and delicate figureine carefully, as if it held the world's answers. "That's so cool Ji-san!" the kid turned it over and Riku watched as conan's eyes threatened to overtake his rather large glasses as the biggest things on his face. "_ALE-LE-LE-LE!_" the boy practically shrieked, causing Riku to wince, head throbbing once more.

"This say's 'M… H…'" the boy sounded the English letters clumsily. Riku suspected that the boy was down playing his intelligence. But why…

Then Riku sucked in his breath as the letters register. _HA… just like that bloody figurine! _

The silver haired teen doesn't dare to breathe as the man who made the figurine glared coldly at Conan, shivers racking up and down his spine, causing Kuroba to look at him with concern.

"Yeah, those are my initials, so what of it?" the man snarked sharply.

Riku felt like he was drowning in darkness again, he couldn't breathe… his chest was being squeezed and it wouldn't let up. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe!

"Hakumei-kun! Hakumei-kun! Oi!" Kuroba was shouting at him but Riku couldn't take a breath, why couldn't he breathe!? "Can you hear me? Take a deep breath, breathe in."

Riku wheezed out a laugh. How can he take a deep breath when he can't even move his _chest_?! Then he tried and found to his consternation that he'd been hyperventilating.

Following the other teen's instructions, Riku breathed in – held it – then breathed out, repeating until he could breathe normally.

"You ok?" Kuroba asked quietly. Riku nodded jerkily, sitting down and placing his head in between his knees, head swimming from the lack of air previously.

A nagging thought swam into his head. _What was that guy hiding?_ He wondered.

* * *

The minutes passed, creeping into an hour. The police still hadn't arrived. A killer was still with them. And Conan had gathered enough proof to nail the guy.

The thing was… how could he do it? There were so many kids around, the police hadn't even arrived yet… they were on their own.

Quietly, Conan swore to himself. What were they going to do?

Then, he sighed. He'd need help… maybe Kuroba could do it? The teen seemed to be the one who would listen to him the most…

But he was always with that silver haired kid. Conan fought back the childish urge to pout. He _wasn't_ a jealous kid! Well… mentally at least. Plus he didn't even know the guy!

Ugh… great… what was he going to _do?!_

And then, the silver haired teen passed out again.

Conan was starting to think that some of his bad luck had been passed onto the guy!

* * *

_Grass, staring at the clouds – together – "_until death do we part_ – _I love you_" – why do you hate me so much? Why do we fight all the time now? _

_A glare, angry words that wound and that we don't mean – that we _can't _mean, because why are we married at all if we don't love eachother? Where has it gone? _

_The black horse figurine, a gesture at an old friend's continued friendship. _

"_A gift, for your wedding. It's all I could afford… I'm sorry it's not something better."_

"_You made it for us, Akira. We couldn't ask for more. Thank you for being there for us."_

_Betrayal._

_Staring up at the sky, this time wracked in pain. Why Akira why? Gagged and bound, unable to even _speak_, passerby not giving him the time of day to help him in his agony. _

_Why Akira! WHY?! _

_Why…_

…_wh–_

* * *

Riku woke up, screaming hysterically, shaking from frame shuddering sobs and his stomach threatening to upchuck anything inside as he sat up and nearly fell over again.

Instantly, Kuroba was at his side, steading him. "Hakumei! Hakumei – what's wrong!?"

Riku couldn't answer him instead, his eyes sought a face –that accursed face that had killed Hisoka Eri! He had to be here, just like young Conan had said.

_A carved horse, painted black with the initials of HA… Hayate Akira…_

Riku's eyes were drawn to the woodcarver playing with the horse that Conan had looked at. He swayed as cold eyes glared at him.

Oh… oh _Kami…_

Riku was going to be sick.

Sicker than he already was thanks to the Darkness.

"It's… oh kami it's you…" Every eye was on him, but Riku didn't notice. "You killed him." Behind him, Conan's eyes widened as the teen continued, "You killed him." And then he wobbled and sat back down, face pale.

Hayate Akira laughed nervously. "G-gaki you're sick, I can't be Eri-kun's murderer!"

Seconds later, Kuroba jerked and then instantly became limp, slumping against the tree. Inwardly, Conan cursed. He had been aiming for Hakumei, dang it!

But he quickly readjusted to Kuroba's frequency and had to fight off the shock of his own (adult) voice leaving the voice modifier.

"Hakume-kun's right. Isn't it strange that Hayate-san has a horse figurine, just like the bloody horse carving Conan-kun found?"

"I gave it to Eri-kun for his wedding anniversary…" came the weak reply.

"Where's your pocket knife, Hayate-san?"

The man hesitated. "I… lost it…"

Conan raises his eyebrow from behind the treetrunk. "Sure. And I'm sure that if we all looked, we'd find your little pocketknife hidden under a bush near the crime scene."

And that was when the man began laughing, clearly unhinged.

"He deserved it…"

Riku stiffened. "No one deserves to die!" he snarled weakly, struggling to get up but his knees buckled and he tripped, falling flat on his face, still glaring at the murderer from the ground.

People by now had fallen back, clearing a space between Kuroba, Riku and Conan as well as the murderer.

"Oh that's where you're wrong, day in, day out, verbal taunting, calling me names. Saying I don't fit in, that I was a _freak_." Hayate spat, eyes wild. "Well he got what was coming to him!"

"You're despicable." Riku spat, his dislike rising and causing him to briefly forget that he was talking to a murderer as he stood up, swaying slightly.

But he was reminded of who he was talking to when the still bloodied knife was pressed against his throat, a calloused hand gripping his arm tightly as he started dragging the still weak teen away from the group.

"You'll let me out of here, or else I'll slit this brat's throat just like I did to Eri!" the man snarled.

No one dared to come after them and rescue the sickly teen as they were swallowed up by trees.

* * *

AN:

Aaaand that's a wrap! Will Riku survive? Will Conan be able to nab the guy before anything horrible happens to Riku? :D well you'll just have to wait and find out! (and yes I'm using the last names Sapphire Wings used in MotH as a nod to her once more.)


	8. Chapter 7 - The Bystander Mystery Part 3

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Seven

The Bystander Mystery Part Three

Finale

* * *

With a muttered curse, Conan dashed off, ignoring the adult cries for him to not run off, to wait for the police to come.

Didn't they get it?! If they waited then Hakumei would be _dead_!

His throat slit just like poor Hisoka-san!

It was with these thoughts that spurred Conan to run even faster than he had ever done so before.

He had to save him! He had to!

* * *

Riku felt his skin crawling form the murderer's touch, of the insanity brushing against his mind, seeking access. The ice cold of the Darkness shrouding the man's heart causing Riku's chest to constrict and tighten so much that he could barely _breathe_ let along _walk_.

But the man just pushed him forwards, the knife digging into exposed flesh, causing warm blood to stream down his neck and staining his white vest.

Riku dared not even swallow for fear of slitting his own throat and speeding his own death.

_Was this how Sora had felt? _Riku thought hysterically, a giggle threatening to escape that was more of a sob then a laugh, one full of despair and desolation, _being lead off away from safety to tortures unknown and possible death? Did he know he was going to _die_?_

A quiet voice sounding like his best friend yelled at him that he had to stay positive. But how could he be positive when he was being held at _knife point_ by an unhinged person?!

Yeah… he was going to _die._

Die here where no one knew about him, where no one but a small group knew he even existed! In his panic, Riku never thought about using his Moon Magic. Panicking always causing the important things like that to be left out…

Conan dodged trees, trying to keep the man and his hostage in sight always, but never letting them see _him_, waiting for the perfect shot.

And then, Conan had it.

He bend down and twisted the nob on the side of his shoe and as it crackled slightly with electricity, inflated the ball and _kicked_.

* * *

Just as Riku was going to give in to the crawling hysteria, the murderer let out a howl of pain and suddenly the knife was _gone_ and without thought, Riku's reflexes honed in despite his panicked state and he whirled around, his hands somehow managing to find a broken branch and – _WHAM_!

The Hayate was twitching on the ground, a rather large lump growing on the man's head, clearly unconscious.

The young boy – Edogawa Riku recalled – was back, rushing to Riku's side as the silverette collapsed, adrenalin leaving his body shaky and unable to stand on his own.

"What… are you doing here… kid?" Riku gasped in pain, his hand reaching up to touch the wound on his neck and wincing as the pain registered. That… was going to leave a mark.

"Ni-san… no one else would help! I was the only one who could do it!" the boy protested, ripping off a bit of his t-shirt and wrapping it around the wound.

Riku smiled slightly. "So much courage in one so young," he murmered, leaning his head back against the tree he was resting against, closing his eyes.

The boy shook the older teen. "Oi! Don't fall asleep!"

Riku snorted, not opening his eyes. "I'm not –" he paused, raising an eyebrow. "Now that is _odd_."

"What is?"

Riku opened his aqua blue eyes. "You're not a child, are you."

Conan shot back, like he had been burned. "Wha-what do you mean N-Ni-san?" he squeaked, an ocave higher than any little kid had any right of being. "O-Of course I'm a kid!"

Riku smirked. "Then tell me why your heart is that of a seventeen year old."

Shrewd blue eyes narrowed behind fake glasses. "What do you mean."

Any illusion of innocence was gone, blown way in the hopes of answers. Answers that Riku was not able to give without compromising the secret status of many worlds.

Instead, he spoke his suspicions. "Let me guess," Riku leaned forward slightly, eyes glinting, his smirk growing wider, "You ran into someone or it's _someones_ – " _Kudo_ _Shinichi_ flinched back, fighting back chills. Just who _was_ this guy?! "Something happened and you got shrunk."

Shinichi flipped open his watch, eying the mysterious teen warily. "Who are you Hakumei. What are you after?"

Riku broke eye contact and ran through his hair with a sigh. "I've lost someone, someone dear to me. I'm searching to get him back."

Conan twitched slightly. "Are you _gay_?" he blurted out.

Riku looked at him startled then started laughing. "No. No it's not like that. He's like a brother to me and… it's all my fault. I should have been there and I was off being _stupid _– " Riku broke off, eyes distant.

A suspicion was forming in Shinichi's mind. "What happened to him – your friend I mean."

A whisper. "He was taken." And suddenly, aqua blue eyes pierced him through to the soul. "Edogawa, be careful. The Agents of Darkness are stirring, you who have a strong heart – you _must _be prepared. Already this world is crawling with those infected with weak hearts towards Corruption. Be careful on who you choose to associate with – who you are seen _as_. They will strike when _no one_- not even you – are looking."

Conan blinked, confused; then his eyes widened.

Hakumei was gone.

AN:

AAAAAND that's a wrap folks for Detective Conan (for now... I don't know if I'm revisiting the DC/MK verse yet)! Hope you've enjoyed your journey with me as I confused the heck out of our dear mini-detective! Erm... and I was expecting it to be longer but... apparently it wasn't meant to be... Coming soon is insane mind twisting fun-ness involving confusing time travel, twisted timelines and - sorry sweeties! Spoilers...

This is Matasuki signing out!


	9. Chapter 8 - Safe Shore

_One day a child shall appear_

_when the stars shall fall and_

_Love is near._

_Two Cherubim shall see_

_Their Door to Ddestiny_

_And Both shall unlock the Key,_

_Stars shall flicker and fade away_

_The wind whispers 'Bad Wolf' this day._

_And Darkness shall seize and corrupt_

_tearing All Three away._

_The Darkness shall hound their very footsteps_

_as They fight towards the Kingdom of Light_

_Twice shall Darkness engulf the Destined Land. _

_And Twice shall the Three lend a hand._

_One shall have his heart connected to many_

_and Two shall find it hard to stand._

_One – Taken and tortured_

_Two – Deceived and corrupted but valiant in his Return_

_the Third – Untarnished and pure – Guarded by One and Two._

_together All Three shall be_

_the Angels of Destiny._

* * *

___**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Eight

Safe Shore

* * *

This wasn't good.

This was really, really, _bad_.

Riku twisted and turned, screaming obscenities that never escaped his lips.

Darkness surged, flashes of light crackled around his visibly, lashing out at the Darkness with the crack of an electrified whip.

Riku had never had this happen to him before, the Light and Darkness fighting for dominance, leaving hot and cold burns to bite into his exposed skin.

There was a reason he had worn that ex-Organization 13 cloak!

Wincing, Riku continued to walk, stumbling at each _CRI-CRACK_! of electricity and hiss of Darkness colliding.

He could do anything, just as long as he got Sora back.

Then suddenly, there was nothing to walk on and he was falling. Falling into darkness.

* * *

A man practically danced around a circular ship consul, a frantic energy in his movements, his floppy brown hair falling into his eyes as he moved, muttering calculations frantically under his breath.

"18-09-11-21 09-19 03-15-13-09-14-07. 04-01-18-11-15-14 09-14-06-05-03-20-09-15-14. 2-05 16-18-05-16-01-18-05-04. 12-15-22-05, 02-01-04 23-15-12-06 – wait –" the man pulled out a strange metallic screwdriver and flipped on a button. A strange _whiiiiring_ noise filled the relative quite and he narrowed his eyes. "No… it can't be…"

"Hello, Sweetie." A warm woman's voice came from behind him.

The man slowly turned, putting the futuristic screwdriver in his breast pocket, a smile appearing on his face. "Ah, River." He greeted. "Where are we now in our timelines?"

Professor River Song sauntered forwards, a smile on her face.

"We're synched, sweetie. You did it."

The man choked, tears welling up in his eyes as he pulled the blonde woman into a hug, holding her tight and breathing in her unique sent. "River. _My _River." He choked out in a whisper.

"And _my_ Doctor." She replied, winking saucily at her conservative husband, who flushed, nervously adjusting his bowtie with a cough. Then she grew serious. "It's about the time that he told us about, Doctor."

The Doctor returned to reality, nodding. "It's starting, isn't it? Our cousins are finally going to War once more." He whispered.

River laid her head on his shoulder. "Oh Sweetie, it started seventeen years ago on those Islands."

The Doctor flushed scarlet. "Y-yeah." He coughed.

Suddenly the floor underneath their feet shook and sent the two nearly flying before the Doctor grabbed onto both the railing and River's waist.

The Doctor let out a laugh as he clung on tightly. "It's started! Hold on River! We're goig to have to ride out the turbulence he's generating!"

"How long will the poor boy be out there?!" River shrieked.

As if in answer the front doors of the TARDIS flew open and a teenager with silver hair collapsed inside, burn and frostbite marks marring his exposed flesh.

"Close those doors Old Girl, we can't have him catching a draft in this condition." The Doctor murmered, squeezing his wife's shoulder in reassurance as she teared up. The TARDIS obliged with a soft hum as soon as the boy was clear of being injured further.

"Oh, Sweetie you never said it was this bad…" the curly blonde whispered, gently holding the boy's limp hand in her own as the Doctor picked him up in his arms, cradling the teenager's head to his chest as they headed to the Medical Center.

The TARDIS gave a sad hum.

"He never does, River. Sora is the best at reading him." The Doctor said, subdued as he set down the limp form on a high-tech medical bed and started hooking up monitoring wires and electrodes, placing a warm electric blanket as the boy's shivering stared to shake his entire body; the blanket molding perfectly to the boy's body.

Suddenly the teen's body jerked and rose out of the bed as if it had been electrocuted, horrifying screams filling the air as he twisted and turned in the bed.

_NO! NO! SORA! NO!_

The Doctor winced at the mental screaming, but remained firm as he attempted to hold the teenager down.

"River! I need your help! Steady his chest, he could hurt _it_ if he keeps jerking like that!"

There was no need to ask what _it _was. The two knew what _it_ was.

"Come on Sweetie, you can fight it!" the woman whispered ash she followed her husband's directions, gently pressing him back down against the bed every time he jerked up.

The teen was crying now.

Pleading. Out loud and in his mind, endless and so full of pain.

The Doctor closed his eyes, fighting back tears. _So it comes down to this, eh Old Girl?_

The TARDIS gave a comforting hum and then, Riku stilled, breathing evenly within the realms of a peaceful sleep, a few straggler tears still slipping out of his eyes.

The Doctor sighed, eyes soft as he brushed his hand through the long bangs of silver hair, feeling the teen's forehead.

With another soft sigh, he drew back, feeling regret for not being able to ease the boy in his suffering.

"A Darkon Infection is never pleasant, my love." River said softly, pacing her hand on his shoulder. "But once he wakes, you can give him the Sunaena – it will help him."

The Doctor reached up and squeezed gently. "I… I know." He breathed shakily. "We have him now, but… River – his hair. It's so long. He'll cut it soon and then – the mess with Xehanhort and the –"

River pulled her husband into a hug that he desperately needed – even if he would never out right say it – and let him break.

Knowing what would happen to your loved ones was a harsh burden that the two of them shared, but such was the curse of time travelers.

Time had Her rules and a Timelord and a Child of the TARDIS had to obey Her rules.

* * *

_There was a beautiful golden glow surrounding him, filling him with peace and chasing away the guilt that he felt. _

Hello Guardian of the Heart_. A woman's voice whispered to him._

_He closed his eyes and leaned into the warm embrace of Heart to Heart, Soul to Soul, his Soul rejoicing at the wonderful contact it had craved after for so long, that had been starved from him by the Darkness. _

_He knew that this was a dream. A wonderful one, but a dream none the less._

Yes Guardian, you are in what your people call a dream, and yet, you are not.

_Riku opened his aqua blue eyes and sent back a question. _How?

_Warm gentle amusement rushed him, causing him to let out a quiet and rare genuine laugh. _You will see, Heart Guardian. You will see. But for now, rest. Rest and let my Thief take care of you.

_Riku let out a quiet hum, content to simply float in the golden light, where nothing Dark could harm him._

_A tinkle of bells told him that she was laughing at him and his rare childish antics._

_But here, in this light, he could afford to be like Sora, just a little bit. He sent out another questioning pulse._

You are what my Thief and my kind call a Heart Guardian but that name has been lost to Time, and you are known by your heart's physical weapon, the Blade shaped like a Key. But that is not correct – this being called a Keybearer. It was not Fate that lead to your power, but genetics hidden by Time's Consort. But enough questions, Heart Guardian, it is time to rest and heal. You will find many answers in the future, some not so pleasant and many more _Joyous_.

But – _Riku protested sleepily, the warmth making him drowsy._

Sleep, Guardian, _sleep._

_Riku drifted, rocked to sleep by the caring Soul of the Last TARDIS._

* * *

"Ah! You're awake!" Riku blinked blearily at the floppy haired man hovering above him.

In a flash, Riku's reflexes kicked in and he shot off the strangely comfortable metallic bed, Way To Dawn appearing in his hand with a flex of his powers. "Who are you, where am I and what do you mean 'I'm awake!'?" Riku shot off in a fashion reminicant to his dream meeting of the teen known as Harry.

The man hardly flinched, but instead pouted. "Blast. Beginning of your timeline. First meeting. _Blast _these bloody circular time paradoxes…" then after grumbling that bit under his breath, he brightened so fast that Riku had the vague impression that the man might be bipolar. "Right! Hello, I'm the Doctor."

Riku's eyebrow lifted. "Doctor? Doctor of _what_?"

The man rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands comfortably holding the straps of his suspenders; a wild childish grin on his face. "Just the Doctor."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Well, _Doctor_ you haven't answered my other questions." He said scowling.

"Oh, I haven't? Blimey. – Well to answer where you are you're in my ship, the TARDIS – Time And Relative Dimensions In Space – she's wonderful you know, knew exactly where you were and found you right quick. And you've been unconscious of almost… I'd say a week, I do believe. Nasty case of Darkon Infection, I'd reckon by that amount of time and those burn scars on your arms won't be going away any time soon, I'm sorry to say."

Riku glanced down and felt himself grow cold at the sight of the many scars on his arms, legs and hands, all crisscrossing like a net of thin white lines. His hand reached up to touch the scar on his shoulder that he had gotten from the battle with Xemnas, after saving Sora from getting that same wound.

Then his attention latched onto the unfamiliar words. "Excuse me but, 'Darkon Infection'? What _is_ that?"

The man's eyes filled with a glimmer of sadness. "It's when the matter your kind calls Darkness clashes violently with the matter known as Light. Horrible stuff to catch. It's why many of your kind never switch from Light to Dark or Dark to Light. But –" The Doctor held up a hand to stop Riku before he could interrupt. "I have something that will insulate your Light from your Darkness, until you have the ability to make one yourself."

He pulled out a necklace that looked like a stone version of a dog tag with strange scribbles etched into it before continuing. "The Dunae were masters of Light and Darkness – Wonderful people, little on the fanatic side, but always curious. …a little _too_ curious but anyways who's counting! This is a Sunaena; it's what they used to train their GuardWalls to be a strong barrier between the opposing forces. To put it simply, it's an artificial shield."

The teen eyed the offering warily before reluctantly dissolving his Keyblade with a sigh.

"I… fine…" he muttered, grudgingly taking the gift.

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you Riku – ah, ah. Put your Keyblade away." The Doctor backed away a reasonable distance as Riku kept the Keyblade pointed right at his throat, the Timelord's hands held up in submission and showing that he held no weapons and spoke cautiously, keenly aware that if he messed this up, a whole entire timeline would collapse. "Yes, I know your name, I also… know your past. It's ok – everyone makes mistakes; I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I'm here to _help _you. The reason why I know all this is because I… am a time traveler. And my TARDIS is both a ship _and_ a _time_ _machine_."

"You could go back in time and stop those men from taking Sora." Riku said, narrowing his eyes. "How can I trust you?"

"I can't do that, Riku. There are _rules_. Time doesn't _work _like that. Sora being kidnapped is an event locked in Time. It's too important to change. I'm sorry. I can't change it. I would if I could, but I can't. Besides, you wouldn't have met me and I certainly wouldn't have met you. We have met before, but this right now is the first time you've met _me._"

Riku dismissed his Keyblade once more and sat back down on the medical bed with a groan, his head aching. "So let me get this straight. You know me, but I don't know you. And you're a…. time traveler?"

"Yes. Though I'd advise you to put on the shield before you pass out." The Doctor noted, nodding at the stone pendant in Riku's hand.

Swaying slightly, with the pounding in his head growing worse, Riku obliged. Deciding to trust his _heart _for once instead of his head.

Immediately, the aches and pains from the internal conflict eased to a more manageable level and Riku fell back with a sigh of relief as the Darkness calmed, like the easing of a storm over a sea until finally, all was still.

"Be warned Riku, you feelings give your powers fuel. Negative emotions force the Darkness to corrode your barrier and positive emotions enforce that barrier. It is a fine balance that you _must_ keep up or else you will remain as you once were, physically sick from the Darkness leaking into your Light and threatening to devour it." The Doctor cautioned. "But, now you won't need to worry about traveling through Dark Corridors. You won't be influenced by Outer Darkness." _Just your own. _

Riku nodded, eyes closed. "I… Thank you… Doctor."

The Doctor smiled slightly, twiddling with his red bowtie. "Thank _you_ Riku, for letting us take care of _you_."

Riku snorted. "Not like I had any choice." He grumbled good naturedly, his heart already warming up to the man.

"Riku..." the addressed boy looked up. "Know that you are free to come and go as you like. You are always welcome here."

Riku nodded, warmth filling his chest. "Thank you Doctor, but I need to get going. I need to find Sora."

The Doctor's eyes filled with sadness once more, but he nodded anyways. "Of course, Riku. You will find hi, don't worry about that." He told the teenager.

"Goodbye then, Doctor. I'll see you whenever our paths cross."

And then Riku opened a Dark Corridor and was gone.

* * *

Riku had been inside the city for days, with no sign of anything wrong with the world, and no sign of Sora. But his senses kept tingling, warning him to stay.

Then, the broadcast message on all the TVS had occurred and the world around Riku had fallen into hysterics.

Robots. Giant _robots_. Ordering _other_ robots to leave Earth.

A crowd had gathered to watch the large beings leave from the opposite side of the launching bay, many of them yelling obscenities and two of the smaller ones yelling obscenities back.

Riku hung in the shadows, unwilling to involve himself. But his scarred heart ached for them. Their tall blue and red armored leader seemed so reluctant to leave…

Riku flinched as startling blue optics met his own despite the distance between him and the large robot leader.

Riku couldn't breathe, his chest felt like it was on fire and oh gods this felt so _wrong_.

_Wrong, wrong, wrong!_

He slumped against the alley wall, head in between his knees and breathed through his nose.

This was so wrong. Oh so, so _wrong!_

There was a malice in the air, stifling in its horribleness.

Something horrible was going to happen.

* * *

AN:

Yes, that _was_ Doctor Who! (...I am such a nerd...) And now, who can guess what world is this one? (I am a really, really big nerd for writing all of this...) *sweatdrop* Anyways, tell me what you guys thought!


	10. Chapter 9 - Shot DownKindred Souls

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Nine

Shot Down/Kindred Souls

* * *

An explosion shook the air, causing Riku to snap his eyes open, head jerking up to see the ship the large robots had been on, fall into the water in flaming pieces.

Distantly, Riku heard a teenager scream in denial and felt his heart break even more.

Of _course_ the Robots would have friends with humans, they _had _to have.

It wouldn't make sense otherwise…

Riku shakily stood up, hand reaching to touch the tucked away Sunaena that was ice cold against his bare skin, feeling the cold seeping through his shirt.

He shivered, an overwhelming sense of _Doom_ coming upon him.

Riku turned and screamed at the red eyes glinting from the shadows.

Something struck his neck and he fell.

_Why me?_ Riku thought vaguely in despair, _why_ me_?_

* * *

Harry Potter froze in his tracks as he heard a familiar voice whisper in his mind, faintly.

_Why… me?_ It came scrambled and Harry felt an ache in his heart for a strange reason as an image – of the fallen angel (because who ever heard of an angel with _black_ wings if they weren't fallen anyways?) with silver hair, falling to the ground surrounded by deadly shadows, new scars visible even in the fading light – came to his mind's eye.

"Harry?"

The messy black haired teen looked up to see his godfather leaning against the wall, a concerned look on his gaunt face.

Harry shifted slightly, realizing where his feet had taken him:

The room where the Black family tree hung.

"Yeah?" he asked quietly.

"Is there something wrong?"

Harry looked down, trying to figure out how he felt. He just felt... drained. Tired. Yeah, that's how he felt. He felt tired. Exhausted actually. The trial had taken more out of him then he had realized.

He looked up and found that Sirius looked as exhausted as Harry himself felt.

"Sirius… could we… go somewhere? Just the two of us?" Harry asked, a mischeivious glint filling his eyes that hadn't been present for a while. "We could dye our hair – the muggle way and no one would know if we went somewhere remote… like the woods – we could go camping! I've never gone camping before!"

Sirius' face filled up with a cheer that had been absent for a long, long time. "Pup, I like the way you think. I have just the place…" the man grinned roguishly. He put a hand on his godson's shoulder. "Just leave it all to me, pup!"

And Harry gave a true smile, one that hadn't been present on his face since Cedric Digory had died.

Sirius smiled weakly back, mind racing to figure out how the two of them would do this, because he _would_ do this _dang it_! Just so he could get his best friend's son to smile like that again, let him be the kid that the Durselys had never allowed him to be.

Because just that Petunia had had a change of heart, didn't mean that he could fully forgive her, not when his godson was still scared from her scathing words. When Harry could be the teenager that he should be, then maybe would Sirius think of forgiving her.

He came out of his thoughts and ruffled Harry's already messy hair. "C'mon Pup, lets go get some of those sandwiches that Molly made for lunch, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we snitched some early, yeah?"

Harry snorted at that and let his godfather drag him into the kitchen.

* * *

The battle raged, and through it all, an animalistic Decepticon prowled, chattering to itself as it waited for the blasted shield to be gone so it could claim his fleshy prize.

But despite all the firepower that the small-_ish_ bot (he was still about a head taller than a fully grown human despite being on all fours) had, the bolts of plasma could not penetrate the invisible barrier.

The bot sat back with a pout, air huffing out of his air vents in the human equivalent of a sigh.

This fleshy was different. There were these strange appendages that grew of fleshy feathery – things – on its back.

Was it a never before seen fleshy? If so, the bot was sure he'd get a reward of some sort.

The metallic wings and tail twitched, as his prey stirred. The bot crouched, talons unsheathed.

As the fleshy sat up, the bot launched himself at the helpless target.

Scene break

Riku sat up, rubbing his head before realizing that his place of unconsciousness had not changed.

But this thought as barely registered before a shadow went overhead and Rik fell over with a yelp before staring incredulously from his back as the attacking bot slammed into a glittering Dark Shield that had somehow formed while he was unconscious.

Riku gave a laugh as he sat back up, rubbing at his shoulder blade; ruefully he supposed that his innate Moon Magic might have had a hand in his protection against the red eyed bot.

Riku's eyes widened. The thing looked like a small (relatively speaking of course) metallic baby dragon!

"Just what are you?" Riku whispered in awe as the dragonoid robot prowled at the edge of the domed translucent shield, long reptilian tail twitching in the air, swooshing side to side, restless.

Riku sat there, silver haired head moving with the direction the dragonoid robot stalked, eyes trained on the lithe alien beast.

An occasional swipe of metal claws against magic shield before more pacing.

And then, with a low growl, the beast sat down on its haunches and just stared, unmoving.

Riku stared back, daring not to blink lest the moment be lost.

…_staaaaare…_

The whole world disappeared as the two of them locked gazes, their surroundings meaningless as both sentient beings tried to figure the other out.

* * *

This fleshy as weird. The bot had decided, ten minutes into the stare down.

It hadn't gone off screaming (well, it _had_ screamed but it hadn't run off at least) when the fleshy had seen him.

So the fleshy was either stupid or increadibly brave and stubborn.

Maybe all three.

Meh.

Blink fleshy blink for Primus' sake!

_**staaaaare**_

…_this_ could take a while…

Despite the battle, the staring contest went on, both too stubborn to give up and look away.

* * *

Night fell and still explosions and screams went on.

Riku sighed and looked at the Dragonoid robot wryly. "Your kind, I suspect?"

The other had the grace to look sheepish, silver wings flattening against the ground and tail lumped delicately.

Riku huffed out a quiet laugh, full of the wry sarcastic humor that many knew his by before his face softened.

"You don't want this do you?" Riku asked quietly, and if possible the bot looked even more dejected, letting out a long mournful keen.

Riku suspected that the robot was young and opportunistic, who had not considered the rashness of his decisions when he had made them.

Just like he had when he had opened the door to his world's heart and let the Darkness take his world and rip it apart.

He knew. And he understood. This robot had been just like him, arrogant, prideful and insanely curious. Too curious.

Without either of them noticing, Riku's trust and sympathy for the bot caused the Dark Shield to flicker and fade away as the Sunaena melted from the ice cold it had been against his skin to a pleasant warmth.

* * *

It was morning and both boy and machine were surprised to find that they had fallen asleep, trusting eachother to not kill the other.

"So…" Riku leaned against the alley wall that was miraculously still standing. "got a name that you'd be able to tell me?"

There was silence as the robot thought this over and then static filled the air. _Des…designa…nation sta…tus… unkno…wn…. Que…ry….fail…ed. q…ue…ry: sta…tus? Na…me…? Q…uer…y? …Qu…ery?! ….Query!? Stat-t-t-tu….s…. failed! Status: Unknown. _

The robot shook its head.

Riku leaned back, looking thoughtful with his arms crossed against his chest. "Well then, how about I name you… Draco?" a shake of the adressed's head. Riku considered. "Draconem?" another shake of the head. "Ginryō?"

The dragoniod dragon nodded it's head in agreement and then turned around suddenly, rigged.

"Ginryō?" Riku asked, approaching the dragon robot. Ginryō turned his metallic serpentine head and gestured at Riku then Ginryō's back. "…You want me to get on?" Riku asked with disbelief. Ginryō rolled his red optics and nodded.

_Such a slow fleshy I have befriended…._

Riku hesitated then shrugged to himself before getting a running head start and hopping on to his new friend's back.

_You ready, fleshy?_

Riku pumped up his fist in the air, totally aware about how Sora-like he was acting but he didn't care. He was about to ride into battle with an ex-enemy robot and did he care? Not one bit. Well… kind of. But right then and there? He was acting on his heart, he could have regrets later!

"Let's go, Ginryō!" he yelled and Ginryō leapt into action, dashing out of the alley way and dodging bullets as he went, Riku cheering before a well placed jerk from Ginryō reminded him that he shouldn't be bringing any more attention _towards_ themselves if they could manage it as they were in a _battle zone_ and screaming on the top of his lungs would certainly _not _help.

Ginryō rolled his red optics but continued running, they had to get to the tower before this strange fleshy's world was pulverized and used as slave labor.

While the two had slept, Ginryō had had a change of heart.

Or maybe his change of heart had happened a long time ago, it didn't matter. What mattered was that this hunk of earth that was the third away from the star called Sol was about to be destroyed as Ginryō's home world was summoned through the giant Space Bridge and the strange fleshy had grown on him despite being so… different.

But different was good, Ginryō supposed. It wasn't a bad thing, and there was something about the fleshy that just _drew_ him closer.

Any thoughts of a reward for the strange fleshy were thrown out the window by the time he had woken up. He was going to make things right. Marginally.

He'd try at least. He needed to atone for his mistakes. The mistakes that had gotten so many of the strange fleshy's kin (were there any like this fleshy? Ginryō didn't know) killed. He had to pay his friend back. With his life if Primus so willed it.

He was going to make things right, by Primus he swore he would!

* * *

AN:

Yeah Riku gets an awesome dragonoid transformer guardian. Did I meantion that Ginryō looks like a DRAGON? Yeah, Riku is cool like that.

*cough* anyways. Yeah, was watching DotM again, realized that there is NO FRIGGIN WAY that the city of Chicago can be on the other side of the bay where the Autobots launched, but… eh, suspension of disbelief, please work with me on this. So, how do you guys like Ginryō? Is he authentic enough you think?


	11. Chapter 10 - Pillar of Darkness

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Ten

Pillar of Darkness

* * *

Riku leaned into the metal back of Ginryō, tensing when his robotic friend jumped over a bullet firing car, loosely rocking back and forth as the dragonoid jumped over flaming cars and screaming people.

_Fleshy, their plan is to bring my home here and enslave the other fleshies!_

Riku felt his aqua blue eyes narrow. "No time to waste then. Ginryō! How do we stop it?!"

Ginryō lifted his long serpentine head and looked at the tall building where a red cylinder glowed from behind stone pillars and was guarded by a tall red robot.

"Crap." Riku grumbled sourly, before calling his Keyblade to him, managing to grip Ginryō's sides with his legs to stay on.

And then, everything that was horrible and nasty hit the fan, and Riku was thrown off Ginryō's back by the blazing hot explosion.

"Ginryō!" Riku yelled, struggling to get off the rubble concrete that he had been thrown onto. With a groan, Riku used his Keyblade as an improvised cane as he limped over to where his friend had crashed.

"No, no, no! C'mon Ginryō! You can do this. Wake up buddy!" the silver haired teen hissed, touching the melted and twisted metal plating where the blast had struck point blank in the dragoniod's flanks, despite the searing heat. He glanced up at the sun and scowled darkly. His moon magic would be considerably weaker but he _had_ to do this.

Ginryō's life could depend on it!

"_Sana!" _Riku gasped, feeling the instant drain on his magic reserves and gritted his teeth, nearly jerking his hand away from Ginryō's wound as the pain finally registered.

The transformer stirred slightly with a quiet but pained keen and Riku gasped again before growling deep in his throat. "No, no, _no!_ Come on Ginryō! Stay with me here! – _sana!_ C'mon, look at me! _Look _at me!"

Another pained keen, low in the ex-con's throat.

Riku's determination heightened and his mouth turned into a thin line as his aqua blue eyes bore holes into the wound that was oozing blue and was slowly but surely closing. But it had to close _faster_! "_SANA!_" Riku screamed, casting the spell despite how fast it was draining him. "_S-sana_! Stay alive, you hear me, Ginryō?! Stay _with _me!"

He was on his knees now, breathing hard, sweat covered his entire body, making his burning hands clammy and causing his vision to go blurry as dizziness hit him as if he had lost too much blood.

If only this had happened during the night! He could have done so much more than he was achieving right now with the same amount of drain!

"S….san...a!" he gasped in a lungful of air before collapsing to the ground beside Ginryō. "S-Sorry, Ginryō!" he gasped, tears mingling with sweat and dirt, making his eyes sting. "I'm not… I can't…" He swore softly, putting his head back against Ginryō's quivering metal flank, thoroughly spent.

_It… is…fine, fleshy… I am…. Sorry too…_

"It can't end like this." Riku murmured softly.

A shadow came over both Riku and Ginryō – and suddenly – Riku was face to face with a glowing plasma canon, the wielder having red eyes.

Riku's brain screeched to a fuzzy halt. _It just can't end like this…_ the teen thought. Riku closed his eyes and looked away. He could feel the heat of the plasma swirling. Soon, the two of them would be incinerated from the point blank range the attack would come in at.

A tear streamed down his face.

_Sorry… Sora… I guess I failed you once more…_

* * *

The injured boy awoke with a wet gasp, blood leaking out of his mouth with a sickening _Plop!_

Riku! Riku was in trouble!

The boy bent over double as another curse was sent his way, but even as he writhed on the ground in pain, no noise escaped his lips. The boy was decidedly mute, and his mind was far away, cented on a boy with silver hair and black wings, so like his own once white and pristine feathers.

Don't give up Riku! You can make it! Find me! Find me _soon_!

And with that, Sora Dived into his heart to wait out the pain and drifted, knowing that with each Dive, it was going to get harder for him to return to the surface and back to reality.

His body was breaking down and the Keybearer knew it.

* * *

There was a furious roar and Riku was suddenly pushed out of the way by Ginryō's tail as the metallic dragon launched himself at his larger and decidedly deadlier enemy.

Riku collided with more sharp rubble and cried out as glass dug into his legs, nearly blacking out from the pain in his weakened condition after attempting to save Ginryō's life.

"No! Ginryō!" Riku screamed in horror as the bot clamped down on the other's arm, causing the shot to go wild and hit a crumpling skyscraper as it was falling sideways into another building a few blocks away, said skyscraper being crushed by what seemed to be a metallic wormlike Decepticon. Ginryō weakly but fiercely growled as the enemy yelled in pain and swung Ginryō around in an attempt to dislodge sharp teeth in Cybertronian flesh-metal.

Eventually, Ginryō was dislodged and was sent flying into a building. Then Riku was under the blazing target of the plasma canon again.

Riku felt his weakened knees buckle and then he fell to the ground, kneecaps bloody from the cement and broken glass. (_He was going to die)_

"Die fleshy scum!"

A furious roar, louder than ever before, and Ginryō was there again, tearing and twisting and blasting with all the strength the bot had.

_No one touches my fleshy!_

And then, things went from bad, to _worse_.

"Die you traitorous maggot!"  
another bot was there, firing at Ginryō.

Luck seemed to be on their side and the bot missed Ginryō and hit the one who had first attacked them.

Ginryō snarled at the new enemy, the said enemy was staring oddly at Riku and the teen felt a chill down his spine as the Sunaena grew cold under his shirt.

"What a strange fleshling you have found…"

Ginryō snarled wordlessly and crouched to launch off but froze as the Decepticon lowered its weapon at Riku who was nearing exhausted unconsciousness.

"Just because the fleshling is different doesn't mean it will be spared with this Culling."  
Riku stared up, unseeing, not hearing, not recognizing the danger as the weapon crackled with electricity.

_Run fleshy run! _

He was so tired… couldn't he just lay here and rest… just a bit?

_Riku! Riku don't give up!_

_Fleshy! Run!_

He wasn't giving up, he was just so _tired_.

_Don't you dare give up on me Riku! C'mon, we'll go together! Just me and you!_

Reality and past were merging, Riku swore he saw Riku in front of him with a big goofy grin on his face, holding his hand out to him so the two of them would be able to head home to the warmth Destiny Islands.

An enraged roar broke Riku out of his hallucinated daze and his teal eyes widened in horror as Ginryō Launched himself into the path of the plasma bolt and took a hit point blank in the chassis.

Riku screamed in denial as the light in ruby eyes disappeared before the metal corpse even hit the ground.

The Decepticon began to laugh at the puny human's distress.

Bad mistake. Horrible mistake. _Last_ mistake.

Rage spikes and darkness surges under the fallen angel's skin.

He tilts his head back and screams to the sky, an unearthly sound, less human and more like an enraged demon.

The Decepticon had stopped laughing. The cold chill in his spark would be the last thing he would feel as the boy stalked forwards, silver hair casting eerie shadows over his face, malice radiating off him like a heat wave.

"You killed Ginryō. And so…" Riku glared up at him. "I'll kill you." The teen snarled, Darkness surging at the Decepticon in the form of a black fist that clutched at Ginryō's murderer and practically tore him apart, limb by limb, with Riku watching passively as the Decepticon's life spluttered, choked and died, blue eyes ice cold and still full of rage.

And then, the pain hit.

After all, using Darkness always had a price.

* * *

Sam Witwicky stumbled at the terrifying roar; behind him, Epps cursed, "What the f- was that?!"

"I don't know but whatever that thing was, it certainly wasn't human." Sam said quietly, squeezing Carly's hand tightly.

The group of humans huddled closer before mustering up their courage and heading to their destination.

They rounded a corner and a blast hit right behind Sam and Carly, causing them to run forwards instead of turning.

"We'll go this way." The young man muttered, pulling his girlfriend by the hand behind a bus before halting, listening for whatever Cybertronian would come their way.

From on high, Starscream landed with a sneer. "Oh what a treat! You and me, _alone_." He sneered and kicked over the bus.

"Carly!" Sam screamed as the two of them dodged the flying vehicle. "C'mon! run!" he ducked under the bus and trying to get Carly to hide away from him. "He's after you, not me!"

The two of them ran through the tipped over bus as the Decepticon cut though steel to get to them. "Run!" Sam screamed.

Carly hid behind a steel wall while Sam's hiding place behind a garbage can was crushed, causing him to yell in shock and fall back.

"Thought you were working for us, _boy_?!" insane laughter accompanied the taunt as Sam suddenly remembered the inventions that Wheeljack had forced upon him and dug out the grappling glove and shot the hook right into Starscream's eye.

The Decepticon's screams of anguish and pain mingled with Sam's screams of terror as the boy was sent flying due the hook being connected to the glove.

He crashed into one of the buildings and grabbed and activated the glowing green bomb made by the crazy Autobot inventor and jumping back out of the window onto Starscream's other eye, where Sam grabbed the glove again and swung. Lennox tried to grab him but pretty soon the two of them were swinging and screaming as Lennox tried to cut the teen loose as the bomb ticked faster and faster. Starscream tried flying to get the two humans off but then Lennox cut the two of them loose and they started falling.

Just then, Bumblebee ran and quickly caught the two screaming humans and quickly transformed into his Camaro form as Starscream exploded.

"Well he's dead."

"Uh huh." Came Lennox's quiet and dumbfounded reply.

"Hey Will?"

"Hrm?"

"Did you hear that scream earlier?" Sam suddenly asked.

Will Lennox shook his head. "No, we were still in the air, but something's here; something that doesn't belong."

The two men and one Autobot shivered, a chill running down their spines.

* * *

Optimus Prime paused mid step, his head twisting in the direction of the primal scream. "Primus hand be willing…" he murmered, eyes narrowing. It felt like something from Unicron's power.

A new enemy could be on the rise.

But something in the Prime's spark caused the thought to ring untrue.

* * *

Riku was sobbing with pain, the Sunaena burning on his skin. Shaky fingers fumbled with the chain and could not get the ancient medallion off.

_Please! Oh Gods please just make it __**stop**__!_

He shook and squirmed, back digging into glass, tearing his skin and wings apart, the gravel slipping into bleeding wounds and adding to his torture. His nerve ending felt like they were on fire and he opened his mouth to scream but no words could escape his throat.

Riku shook and shuddered, but no matter how hard he struggled, he could not get away from the torture, the never ending _pain._

He stretched out his hand, trying to touch Ginryō's cold flank, tears streaming out of his eyes and creating two clean tracks of skin. "Gin…ryō…"

His hand fell, just a few centimeters from touching his dead friend's corpse, as Riku sagged and collapsed into unconsciousness, the darkness raising havoc on his body systems and finally – mercifully – knocking him away from pain as another seizure boldly seized his body. But this time, no one was there to help him and keep him from hurting himself even more.

Overhead, Cybertron encroached on Earth's atmosphere.

* * *

Sam and Gould grappled furiously, struggling for the fate of all mankind.

Strangely, it was the younger man who embodied the Light of his race, while the older represented all the corruption, greed and selfishness – the Dark – of Humanity.

"Don't do this!" Sam pleaded, but Gould would not heed to the man's pleas; placing the pillar upright again and once more the signal begins to bring Cybertron ever closer.

"There's only one future for me, kid."

Sam hit the man in the leg, causing him to fall. The younger man fell upon him, fists flying as he punched Gould in the face. A struggle to get to the pillar ensued when Gould hit the pillar and sent it flying up to reconnect the signal.

"You choose sides?" Gould kicked Sam in the chest, causing him to loose his grip on the rubble he was on as Gould sneered after him, "Well you chose wrong!"

Sam hit the ground with a cry of pain before slowly getting up onto his feet again and climbing back up, grasping a piece of carved cement in his hands.

Gould turned around. "I've just saved another world! You think you're a hero? _Huh? You think you're a hero?!_"

"No. I'm just a messenger!" and with a yell he struck the man, causing him to fall back into the pillar, electrocuting him to death.

"The Pillar is still activated! Bee!"

"Get that pillar down!"

"Bumblebee!" Sam yelled, dropping like a stone as the black and yellow bot leapt up and grabbed the device like a human footballer.

And finally, Cybertron disappeared from Earth for good, taking the Decepticon forces with it.

Sam glanced around and felt his blood run cold in his veins. "Bee! There's a kid down there – he could be still alive!" Bumblebee whistled an affirmative and the two of them reached the destroyed ground of Chicago and Sam bent over the boy, feeling the blood drain out of his face as his eyes took in the lacerations and terrible burns and how the boy's body was twisted on his side.

Sam knelt down and put his two longest fingers underneath the boy's nostrils and nearly melted as he felt the warm puffs of breath coming out of the boy's nostrils.

"He's alive!" Sam called to Bumblebee whose reaction mirrored his own, metal gears untensing and shoulders slumping in relief.

"Poor guy…" Sam muttered, wincing as his eyes took stock of all the bleeding wounds that covered the boy's twisted body.

Then, Sam noticed something odd.

Three dead bots were in the immediate area of the boy, all bearing the marks of Decepticons.

But one – smaller than the other two and more beast like than humanoid – showed signed of two point blank shots, one in the rear flank and one in the chest, where the spark was. This Deception was the closest to the boy, who was sprawled out as it to touch the dragon-bot but had passed out from blood loss or trauma or both just before he had reached it.

Was it possible that the dragon-bot had died protecting the boy?

Memories of the eccentric old jet named Skyfire flashed through Sam's mind.

Yeah, it was possible. _Unlikely_, but possible.

But when did the dragon-bot pass?

Sam felt like he was missing something, something important.

_**Scene break**_

_It was a lovely day on Destiny Islands._

_The two of them were resting against the Paopu fruit tree as was their habit. _

"…_Riku?"_

"_Hmm?" Riku glanced over at his white winged friend, his own black wings unfurled to catch a few shades of sunlight for the same reasons a cat would do to a patch of sunlight in a lazy afternoon._

"_You know you're gonna have to learn how to channel some of your Light pretty soon, or else…" Sora trailed off._

_Riku closed his eyes. "I…" he licked suddenly dry lips, retracting his wings, holding them close to his back and hugging his sides, suddenly feeling very, _very_ vulnerable. "…I know…" he whispered, choked._

"_Then why are you repeating the same mistakes?" _

_Sora's voice wasn't accusing, but very, very concerned. He was worried about his best friend. _

_Riku scowled anyways. "I am not!" he denied._

"_You le your anger get the best of you! You know…" Sora leaned back on his hands, spikey hair bushing against bark. "It's why we're able to have this talk… This is a Heart to Heart."_

"_Sora…"_

_Riku slumped and ran a hand through his long silver hair. "I… you're right, Sora. I need to work on my temper…"_

_Sora bumped his pessimistic friend on the shoulder, a bright grin on his face. "C'mon Riku! You still have time! Consider this your wake up call!"_

_Riku snorted. "Isn't this a little harsh of a wake up call?"_

"_Nah… could be worse." The brown haired Keybearer shrugged. _

_The two were silent for a while, content to simply sit and enjoy eachother's company. _

"…_Sora, where _are_ you?" Riku asked suddenly._

_Sora leaned back to look at the brilliant endless blue sky. "I… I don't know. But you're getting closer Riku. I could feel your heart screaming, so I came to help talk some sense into you."_

_Riku scowled again, reaching over and pulling his best friend into a head lock and giving the protesting teen a noogie . "I'm not the one needing sense talked into, Mr. I'm-A-Keyblade-Master-I-Don't-Need-To-Call-For-Hel p-When-Dark-Goons-Gang-Up-On-Me!" _

"_Ow! Ow! Ow! Riku! I wasn't thinking at the time! I didn't want your guys to get hurt!"_

"_Even though we had keyblades? You're as clueless and idiotic as ever Sora!" he shoved his best friend off the tree._

_Sora protested. "Hey! I'm not clueless!"_

_Riku raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Who was it that had to shove the notion that you liked Kairi right in front of your nose when you were fourteen, huh?" he taunted._

_Sora flushed. "Sh-Shut up, Riku!"_

_Riku smirked, having won this round of taunts._

_Another long period of companionable silence._

"_Hey… Riku? I think it's time for you to wake up." Sora suddenly spoke, turning to Riku._

_Riku protested. "No –"_

"_Just remember what I said about someone teaching you Light techniques!"_

"_Sora wait! I –"_

* * *

Riku's eyes snapped open, his chest seizing as he gasped for air, as if he had been drowning.

* * *

AN:

Is that a sense of impending doom that I feel? Maybe a ton of Killer Intent sent my way? Erm... *hides behind a large weapon proof sheild that reflects every kind of attack, mundane and magical* please review?


	12. Chapter 11 - Pale

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Pale

* * *

Riku couldn't breathe.

Why was it that he always woke up struggling for breath?!

Riku's eyes searched for clue on where he was as slowly, agonizing in its slowness, he could breathe easier and easier, more and more.

He was in a medical bay, and the steady beat of his heart being monitored both relaxed and soothed him.

He shifted slightly and winced, realizing that he was laying on his side for a reason. His wings were most likely broken in several places…

Flashes of memory filled his mind.

* * *

_Ginryō – NOOOO!_

_**You killed him so I'll kill you.**_

* * *

Riku's breath caught in his throat as his eyes grew wide with horror, but the memories didn't stop coming.

* * *

_Pain. Blood. Darkness._

"_You need to control your temper, Riku._

_or else…" trail into nothing –_

– _looming death if still on the path._

* * *

A dark voice whispered in his mind, sharp and biting in its accusations as he squeezed his eyes shut as if to ward it off. _"You chose the Path to Dawn but here you are, still on the road to Darkness. What will you do Riku, when the Darkness consumes you? What will you do? What will you do? The Sunaena will not protect you forever. Just look at what you have already done! With the Darkness, you could achieve _anything._"_

Riku flinched and shook his head, whispering denials. Unaware of the electric blue optics observing the injured human.

* * *

"How is the boy?" the deep voice of the Prime rumbled in his power and authority, steadily showing his concern with every word.

"He seems to be having some kind of waking nightmare. But, his wounds for the most part seem to have healed. Mentally… I am unsure." Ratchet shifted his gaze slightly. "War does horrible things on the mind. The boy was found in the middle of a blast zone, only Primus knows what happened to the boy within that time."

Air vented with the human equivalent of a sigh and Optimus rubbed wearily at his nose plate, a habit learned by copying the humans.

"We should alert the humans that the boy has awakened."

Ratchet smirked. "Already combed Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox, sir."

Riku flinched as a door opened and a medical personnel and a man dressed in a sharp uniform walked in.

"Heya kiddo." The man greeted as the doctor checked Riku's stats and medical readouts.

The teen remained silent, warily staring at the man who had taken a seat by his bed.

"The name's Lieutenant-Colonel William Lennox, I'm apart of NEST." Seeing Riku's blank look of incomprehension Lennox explained, "It's where we've put you and the rest of those wounded from Ground Zero. You've been the last to wake up."

Riku didn't look away from the Lieutenant-Colonel, his gaze haunted with a shadow that the man wished was never on a kid's face.

It was too adult. Too knowing of horrors.

But Lennox had a job to do. He leaned forwards, looking the teen in the eyes. "Why were you there kid? Why weren't you somewhere safe?"

_Nowhere is safe Riku, remember that. Maybe then you'll come out alive._

Riku stared through the man, mind flashing back to Ginryō's graceful and sleek body, the way the sentient bot's metal parts tensed and flowed like water as he leapt, even with the added weight of Riku on Ginryō's back.

Riku didn't know how, but through that previous night, a bond had formed and now… it had been torn away just as fast.

* * *

_NOO – !_

_Darkness. Rage. Liquid fire._

* * *

Riku was trembling and suddenly, the man was closer saying something.

"–id! Kid! It's OK! The bad guys are _dead_!"

Riku wanted to laugh and to scream at the man that he _knew _that! But that didn't stop the memories from looming out of the Darkness and pulling him in.

"My fault. My fault. Oh _Moon's Fire_ it's all my fault! Ginryō… Ginryō!" and to his eternal mortification, Riku found tears streaming down his face as he broke completely in the safety of the NEST.

* * *

The boy was traumatized by the battle, Ratchet had decided with a clinical eye. The medic wondered if revealing their presence would be too soon for the boy before his resolution formed and he noted to inform Optimus of the restricted contact he recommended the Autobots take for the boy's mental health.

The boy may jut see giant robots and equate them to the enemy that had attacked his home, not looking at the optics and seeing the other side that belonged with the opposite color.

But perhaps the boy could be eased into the – hold on.

Ratchet's electric blue optics shuttered as something caught his attention.

Were those… _wings _that Ratchet saw on the boy's back?

Samuel had not mentioned it to them and the Lieutenant-Colonel was not reacting to the appendages on the boy's back as he awkwardly patted the quivering teen on the shoulder blade, where the wings poked out of the boy's bandaged back.

…like the bandages were never really _there_.

Just who was this boy, with his strange broken and singed black wings?

* * *

"Um… hi?"

Riku barely even blinked at the older man who had come in, obviously not a part of the military but very important if he could walk around the base without someone tailing him.

Riku's scarred heart throbbed in his chest and he barely held in a wince. _Moon's fire_ it hurt but the physical pain paled in comparison to the spiritual backlash brought on by a shattered GuardWalls that had just begun to heal back together with the help of the Sunaena.

The other male shifted under Riku's blank stare.

"…Err… the name's Sam. Sam Witwicky."

Riku just blinked, like he had since had woken up a second time, just too tired and in too much pain to care about anything in particular in the moment.

Sam sighed and got up after a long period of awkward silence.

"…Riku…" the teen whispered quietly, just loud enough to be heard. "My name is Riku…"

Same paused and turned, giving the teen a weak, sad smile. "It's nice to meet you, Riku. Mind if I come back to talk later?"

Riku wordlessly shook his head before a broken whisper, "I don't mind…" then he retreated to the safety of his own head and silence once more.

Sam's smile turned into a worried frown and he left.

What had happened to the boy, and who was this 'Ginryō'? Sam didn't know and he wondered if he would _never_ know.

* * *

Riku looked away from his view of beautiful countryside.

Sam was back, this time with a pretty blonde who he introduced as Carly.

Riku had been moved to a place better equipped to comfort an injured teen suffering from Shell Shock: the ranch of Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox, where the man's wife had welcomed the traumatized teen with open arms and gentle soothingness that was a balm on Riku's injured and war torn heart.

The silverett was just so _tired_.

But even with the lethargy that plagued Riku's waking hours, Riku still found the energy to gently play with the six year old Annabell Lennox, a fact that caused the Lieutenant-Colonel to warm up to the silverette even faster than Sora might have pulled off.

"Hello Riku." Carly said warmly, sitting down on the bench near his spot in the window seat. Riku blinked at her and nodded in greeting. He just couldn't muster up the energy to say 'hello' back.

Sora's words of caution rang in his ears.

* * *

…_you need to control your temper Riku…_

…_this is why we're talking…_

…_your heart was screaming_

_so I came…_

* * *

Riku shrunk into himself, visibly wilting as his arms came to wrap around his lithe frame.

Carly continued to chatter to the traumatized teen cheerily, her eyes flashing in concern. "How are you Riku? Are the Lennoxes treating you well?"

Riku dragged himself out of his dreamlike memories just in time to give a tiny nod before slipping back under.

Sam and Carly traded worried looks. The two of them had grown attached to the quiet teen.

The couple also knew that the Lennoxes were worried for the boy as well, and all four of them were at a loss of how to help him.

Sarah had simply sighed softly, and had suggested that they would do best to let him know that they'd be there with a listening ear.

But none of them knew that soon, everything would change, just not in the way that they thought.

* * *

Riku swallowed thickly, the noise loud to his ears in the silent stillness. His hand reached up to rub absently at the area where his heart rested as another shoot of fiery pain ran though his veins, making him tremble slightly as if a breeze would knock him over.

His trembling hand clenched and unclenched spastically at the pen as he put it to blank paper he had found lying around on a desk one night like tonight when he _could not_ sleep for fear of the terror dreams that sent the whole household into disorder and panic, so certain that their charge had been attacked by _something_.

He had to explain things, why he was there that day and why he needed to leave again. But he couldn't say it, so he had to settle for the written word to explain for him.

* * *

_By the time that you read this, I'll have been long gone and out of your hair…_

* * *

Riku hugged himself once more to ward off a chill and glanced out of the window at the black Topkick and the yellow and black Camaro and whispered a broken unheard apology. He knew who they were. His Heart had Shown him.

Then he tore his gaze away from the disguised robots slumbering away the moon lit night peacefully and took a deep shuddering breath, carefully tightening the straps on his rucksack that had been found stashed away in the miraculous alley, completely unscathed, just like he had told the scavengers in a raspy haunted whisper.

Riku glanced around the guestroom one last time and closed his eyes, puling up a hand and _willing_ a Corridor to _open_, the Darkness rushing to obey his will and as he opened aqua blue eyes, he walked into it; knowing that he was one world closer to finding Sora.

Slowly, but surely, Riku would find him. He would find the boy his Heart called "Brother".

* * *

Sam Witwicky lurched awake, the sickening feeling of falling causing his sudden departure from pleasant dreamland.

"Sam? Wha's wrong?" Carly mumbled sleepily.

"Something's going on with Riku!" Sam exclaimed, leaping out of bed and quickly grabbing the things he needed to look presentable but did not bother wasting time shaving.

A chill hand was clutching at his heart as he ripped open the door of the Lennox's second guest bedroom and tore out into the hall, Lennox bursting into the hall to run alongside him.

"What's –"

" –Riku."

The two ran down the hall until the end (Sam wad cursing on how far the teen's room was, even though it was only a few doors down).

They came to the room and knocked tentatively, the two men's respective partners hurrying to catch up.

"Riku? Riku please open up!"

"Is something wrong?"

"Riku!"

There was a clamor of noise and then only agonizing silence in reply.

Lennox tried the door and found it unlocked, the swinging door revealing an empty room, where there should be a person. A made bed where it should be messy and full of confused, sleepy eyed, messy haired teenager.

And on the desk, under the light of a lamp there was a note.

"'…_I'm sorry, Sir. I would have told you this face to face, but I didn't know how.'_" The Lieutenant-Colonel broke off before continuing with a choked voice. " _'That day, that day it all began, I was looking for someone. My little brother. Not in blood but he should have well been so – we were so close. I didn't care about the dangers, I just wanted my best friend – my _little brother _– back. We've been though too much to for me to abandon him now. I'm sorry sir. I can't stay. He could be looking for me. he _needs_ me. I'm sorry I'm a coward. I'm sorry that I couldn't say goodbye face to face. But… I can't stay. Believe me, I want to so badly but I just _can't_. I'll be long gone, please don't look for me. I'm not worth the effort. _

– _Riku.'_"

Hollow silence filled the room.

* * *

The moment that he stepped out of the Dark Corridor, Riku immediately wanted to run back into it's relative safety, but it had closed the moment his feet had touched the ground and refused to open again.

Suddenly he was hit with a wave of dizziness and he collapsed to the ground with every fiber of his being screaming to leave. But black spots were coating his vision and he just was so _tired_. He couldn't move.

A woman's laugh echoed in his ears.

_Oh this is a treat!_

Her cackles sent weary shivers down his spine.

* * *

Riku awoke to a darkened room, gingerly the silverette got to his wobbly feet and opened the thankfully unlocked door, which lead to a dim hallway.

Cautious and still wary of the woman's voice that had preceded his blacking out, Riku set out to find the front door, so he could know what kind of world he had landed himself into.

* * *

Riku growled as Way to Dawn refused to come to his aid on opening the locked door. It refused to come to his aid, _period_.

With a frustrated shout, he kicked the door and watched in stunned shock as the door swung open, causing him to stumble back.

And what he saw made his eyes widen.

"No! hey! Stop!" he ran out the door and into the fairly well maintained yard. "Stop! I'm right –"

He froze as he ran right through the paramedic handling his unconscious body onto a stretcher. " – here." He whispered, noticing for the first time that he was slightly translucent.

With wide eyes he observed how his hands shimmered slightly in the sun and how he could see the yellowish grass through them.

A woman's chuckle, the same one from before caused chills to run down his spine.

A clammy hand slick with blood grasped his own and Riku screamed in terror as he was suddenly yanked back with surprising force.

He rolled against wood floor and was up in an instant but an instant too late as the door slammed with a sudden finality.

Riku dove for the door and jerked on a handle that refused to open.

He saw the dirty cracked windows and struggled to open those, but they refused him access.

He pounded on the windows, screaming for the leaving paramedics, for the thinning crowd, for _anyone _to hear him – to help him.

But no one heard and the woman's cackles of devilish glee mingled with Riku's cries for aid, creating a hellish symphony.


	13. Chapter 12 - Elizabeth is Calling!

AN: *nearly keels over in shock from mass reviews via Peach*

Goodness! I'm sooooooo sorry for not updating so soon! Peach! You need an account! It'd make everything much simpler if you had an account so I could just PM you this… *cough* anyways! Here's an explanation to your many questions! (some of which I will not divulge due to spoilers)

So! The whole not getting into a glimpse of Harry's world, well… I've started the story earlier! XD if you will recall, the original Magic of the Heart started while Harry was in school mid year (or beginning there about) with Umbridge stalking the halls. I've decided to start a little later, with Riku's point of view because I honestly was a little miffed that Riku wasn't given at least a flash back of searching for Sora before depending on the King's gizmos to find him. And… I _was_ planning on giving you all a full Harry Potter chapter but the muse threw up her hands and did a tantrum worthy of a four year old… so you get ghost mystery stuff…

And the whole River-Doctor time paradox thing, in canon Who yes, River _does_ die but a part of me is just throwing a huge _snit_ on the Doctor being alone again and not being able to have his happily ever after with River or _someone_ and I'm really not shipping anyone else other than Rose but she has her 10.5 so she's kinda out of the ballpark now… and I really, really don't want to give the Doctor away to an OC, Eleven has been broken enough.

And with Harry's remembering of Riku, oh he remembers. It's just his thoughts when he realized that Riku had black wings during the dream. *shrug* sorry for not being clearer on that but I get really vague on things like that… sorry… yeah…

Again I am soooooooo sorry for not updating! School is nearing summer stages here and I _really _need to_ study_ for _math _*gags slightly and shivers* anyways, I really hope you all enjoy this! Oh! And the anime Riku is in is Ghost Hunt. (geah so long of an AN…)

* * *

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Elizabeth Bathory is Calling

* * *

Taniyama Mai was having a bad day. First of all she had woken up late and had to skip her measly breakfast of instant ramen in favor of scrambling to get to school on time.

Once there she found that her class was having a major test that _she was completely unprepared to take._

When had they even learned that stuff anyways?

And… it was _that_ day. The day that Naru – no, _Oliver Davis_ had left for England. Leaving her behind, with so many words unsaid, with so much he just _didn't understand. _

Ever since he left… Mai had been sent drifting, unable to bear looking at the SPR headquarters, now owned by some stuffy businessman that she didn't care to even know the name of.

What did it matter now? Everyone had drifted apart after he left. She had even stopped dreaming of _him_. Of Eugene. Her spirit guide and Naru's _twin brother._

Sometimes… Mai wished that she hadn't caused Lin to get injured that fateful day, just so she didn't have to deal with the pain of Naru – stupid , _stupid_ Naru – rejecting her and that she had been just as stupid and hadn't corrected him.

She was such a fool and had let him go. And now… what was the point?

Without her notice, Mai's eyes grew heavy and she slumped onto her desk, entering dreamland.

* * *

_She was running. A woman's laughter rang in Mai's ears. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hidden door and another hand covered her mouth just as she was about to scream._

"_Quiet! Or she'll see us!" a boy's harsh whisper reached her ears. _

_She whirled around and blinked at the silver haired teen who had grabbed her. _

"_who is 'she'?" Mai hissed back._

_Blue eyes studied her, looking for something. Then the silverette relaxed. "Good… she hasn't found you yet."_

"_Mai." _

_Mai whirled around to see a familiar face. _

"_Gene…" she whispered, eyes wide. _

"_Mai, you need to wake up." The normally smiling Davis twin said urgently, his back to the door and holding it closed as the door shuddered and threatened to collapse. _

"_Who is 'she'? and sorry, do I know you?" Mai demanded, addressing the silver haired teen who didn't say anything, just moved to Gene's side to help keep the door closed._

"_Mai, wake up." Gene said urgently as the door gave another frightening shudder. _

_Mai shook her head, brown hair falling into equally brown eyes. "No! Not until I get some answers!" she said, scowling, eyes glinting stubbornly._

_Gene sighed. "Mai, there is a very dangerous spirit on the other side of the door. Wake. Up. _Now_." _

"_No." she folded her arms and glared. _

"_Mai, _wake up_!"_

"_Nooo!" _

"_Mai."_

"_No."_

_The silver haired teen and the deceased psychic traded looks. One with eyebrows threatening to run away in his silver hair and the other full of wry exasperation. _

"_Is she always like this?" the silverette asked Gene. _

_Gene sighed and let black locks hide his blue eyes in a rare show of exasperation. "Yes…"_

_Mai stomped her foot in annoyance. "Oi! Don't talk as if I'm not here! You!" she pointed at the silverette who made a 'who me?' gesture. "Tell me your name!"_

_The teen scowled as the door took another hit. "We don't have _time_ for this!" he breathed before grimacing. "My name is Hakumei Riku, now hurry and _wake up!_" _

_Mai nodded and turned to walk away towards where she could feel her ability to wake up residing. _

_A thought seemed to strike Gene at the last second. "Mai."_

_The highschooler paused and glanced back._

"_Noll is coming to Japan." _

_Mai froze. "What?"_

_Gene sighed. "Mai…"_

_But Mai did not hear him. Instead she walked in a daze and soon, everything was slowly fading out into nonexistence._

* * *

And Mai awoke to a droning teacher, drool on her desk and a crick in her neck. She tried to focus her mind once more but other things kept it occupied. A mixture of excitement and dread seeped into her chest and one thought resounded in her mind like a gong.

Naru was coming.

She blinked, fighting a foolish grin as she glanced down at her notebook, idly doodling random nonsense.

Naru was coming!

_But…_ she paused and her hand stilled. _Will our relationship be the same? For kami's sake he thinks I'm in love with his dead brother! I've got to set him straight, but _how_?! _

Mai scowled and then sighed.

She didn't even know when he'd arrive…

* * *

Riku stared incredulously at the spot where the brown haired girl had been, then glanced back at his companion.

Eugene Davis nodded. "yeah… she's always like that…"

Then the door gave a sickening slam and the two teens gave eachother looks of dread.

"So… when did you say your brother was coming back to Japan?" Riku asked weakly.

Gene shuddered. "The last time I talked to him was when he was packing, two days ago. He was… rather miffed… I was supposed to pass on when he found my body you see." He said scowling, causing the teen to look remarkably like his brother who _never _smiled unless Gene had been the one to instigate it... or _Mai_ but the idiot scientist didn't seem to realize that.

Riku snorted. "Lucky for me you didn't move on." He muttered. "Hey… Gene… is it ok if I asked you why you haven't moved on yet?"

Gene smiled then scowled once more. "It's because my idiotic brother and Mai just can't tie the knot already and make babies!"

Riku flushed scarlet and started stuttering. "Let's not get hasty, Gene!"

A glower stopped the sixteen year old's spluttering. "You haven't seen what I've seen! They're totally crazy for eachother! Mai knows about it but my idiotic scientist of a brother thinks that she's in love with _me._" the dead twin ended with a sulky expression that totally belied his true age.

Riku shook his head in wry amusement. "So you're still here playing matchmaker, eh?"

"It's not like that! They were totally _made_ for eachother! Mai sees it why can't Noll?!" Gene bemoaned, clutching at his hair in a melodramatic fashion.

Then pressing concerns readdressed themselves as the door splintered.

"Time to find a better room!" gasped Gene, grabbing Riku's wrist and dragging the younger teen after him as they dashed into another room as the woman's screams of rage filled the recently vacated room.

The two boys were running for their lives. …metaphorically speaking because the two of them were spirits. But still, they _were_ running for their right to still exist in the mortal realm.

But then, the two spirits ran into a corner. A woman's cackle rang through the small enclosed space and Riku fought the urge to bang his translucent head against the wall, how much help that would be (as his head would most likely go _through _it) Riku didn't know.

"Any point in hopping that your brother would show up right now and save our behinds from being broiled alive?" Riku asked hopefully.

Gene glanced over at the younger teen with an amused but wry smile and shrugged. "I do not know, Guardian Riku."

Riku sighed and closed his eyes as the woman's insane laughter filled his ears. "…I thought so… and with my powers locked, I can't…"

"Guardian Riku, it is alright. It is not your fault so do not blame yourself for not being able to defend yourself and I."

Riku scowled and glanced away before his eyes locked on something in front of him and let out a strangled noise, halfway between a whimper and a groan.

The woman giggled and licked off blood from her still dripping hands.

"Gene…"

"Yes Guardian Riku?"

"I think your brother didn't make it in time…"

A statement of the obvious and then the two teenagers made a last ditch effort to run past the malicious spirit before them and prayed for the best, the screams echoing around and through them making Riku's head throb.

He really hatted the messes he got himself into!


	14. Chapter 13 - An Acidic Touch

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

An Acidic Touch

* * *

They were cornered.

Again.

Riku sunk to his transparent knees, breath coming in gasps as his sea green eyes gazed warily at the demon that had tormented him so ever since he had arrived in this forsaken house.

Suddenly, before either teen soul could move, she was in Riku's space and her bloodied hands were gripping his throat in an all too real choke hold.

Gene gave a wordless shout and tried to tackle the demonic woman but her red eyes narrowed in his direction and the lanky black-haired spirit was sent flying to crash into a wall by an unseen force, stunning the deceased psychic.

Riku was seeing stars – though how he needed air while a spirit he had no clue – but the fact remained that he was choking and he really _was _going to be in a realm of pain if he didn't get out of her surprisingly fierce grasp and away from the sick sticky blood coating her hands that burned his translucent skin like acid.

Riku let out a wheezy whine of pain, the last of his air escaping with the pitiful noise, his hands grasping at the bloody ones despite the sizzling torment it caused in a weak attempt to pry off the demon's acidic touch that was slowly leaching all his strength and coherence away from his spirit as pain blurred his sight.

The deadly smile was all that he saw now, lips red as freshly spilt blood. And even that, was fading.

* * *

Mai glanced over at the TV and felt herself freeze as a wave of horror and nausea struck her, making her dizzy.

The familiar face from her dream was on the News.

* * *

_**Breaking News: Haunted Building Claims Another Victim! Famous Psychic Researcher Oliver Davis Is On the Case After a Year of Quiet!**_

* * *

A smile filled her face but then turned swiftly into a frown as she registered the fact was that the silver-haired teen in her dreams was not dead but simply experiencing an Out of Body experience and was consequently a comatose patient.

"_My name is Hakumei Riku, now _WAKE UP_!" _

"_Mai, there is a _very_ dangerous spirit on the other side of this door_…."

Mai shook her head to dispel the memory, frowning.

At least she knew that Gene wasn't lying when he said that Naru was coming back.

* * *

Gene groaned as his head cleared and then felt his blue eyes widen. "Guardian Riku!"

The boy's soul was nearly gone, his spiritual strength and vitality leached off by the bigger demonic spirit.

Blurry aqua eyes met dark blue and then Gene was in motion, focusing on his center and letting his spiritual strength build like a full blown river blocked by a large dam, just waiting to be released in a strong burst.

And with a war cry, Gene let the power loose in a very dense and concentrated blast, sending the vampiric demon flying into the wall just like he had done earlier, allowing Riku to crumple to the wooden floor.

Already some color and transparency was returning to his spiritual body, face drawn and haggard. A bloody red mark around his throat in the shape of two hands that looked like burn scars around his throat where the demonic woman had choked him.

Gene winced but didn't look a gift in the horse's mouth and grabbed Riku by the transparent arm and hauled the teen up, letting his fellow teen lean heavily on him as the two stumbled away from the stunned enemy.

Slightly below him, Riku chuckled bitterly, "I'm useless." He mumbled self-depreciatively.

Gene shook his head, a stubborn frown on his face as he gazed down solemnly at his comrade. "No. Don't say that Guardian Riku."

Riku scowled weakly. "It's always me. I'm always in the way of danger in some form or another." A bitter smile. "I'm just the Universe's punching bag, ne?"

"Oi. Riku."

The silverette froze, before he was tugged to face the psychic, whose dark blue eyes glared daggers into his own aqua shades.

"You idiot."

Riku flinched but then blinked as Gene simply ruffled his silver hair, like any older brother would, causing him to scowl weakly.

Suddenly the random gesture of affection was gone as a howl echoed through the house.

And then, something _**shifted**_ and Gene _**Knew**_.

The famous psychic Oliver Davis had arrived to set up shop and _everybody_ knew it.

* * *

AN:

*twitch* ugh. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It wanted to end right there. I'm so, so sorry. but the next chapter will be done soon, hopefully over the weekend and summer starts tomorrow so I'll have some time to myself, though warning I'm gonna on a hiatus for the 17th of June through the July 4th weekend, due to a camp, a writers' conference and me just catching up with friends (all in a row) because I had moved six months ago and now I'm heading back for the said Conference! I know it's going to be a while till that happens but still, fair warning for you all.

If I don't update the chapter in a week, you have rights to PM me angry messages demanding me to hurry it up.

Again, sorry for the shortness!

Thank you all for your continued support!

~ Matasuki


	15. Chapter 14 - Forwards to Something Great

AN: Ugh. Ok. So the Ghost Hunt arc was a REALLY BAD idea. It's not jiving with the universe so I'm cutting my losses and skipping forwards a bit at the Muse's demands. She's finally just called it quits on me. Don't worry, how the whole Riku OBE fiasco got resolved will be explained in a flashback or two.

I'm sorry about the abruptness guys and I realize that picking a not very well known Anime and Manga series was hard on you all, so sorry again. I hope you all know this one though because it's a childhood favorite of mine.

I welcome you to the world of Digimon Frontier and despite it being slightly warped in my imagination to become slightly AU, I hope you will all understand what's going on this time.

* * *

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Forwards to Something Great

* * *

Riku groaned staring blankly at the sky as his vision cleared.

The last misadventure had been _very _taxing, and despite how his body had never been harmed, he still felt like a heartless had whacked him around and then stomped on him for good measure. Several times over.

"Ow…" was the only coherent thing he could say.

Then Riku blinked, brow furrowing as his mind sluggishly caught up to what he was seeing. _Why are there three moons? _Oh. Right. New world. Oka – ow. Ow. _Ow! _

And then Riku's thoughts dissolved from coherency to mind blurring pain as he collapsed back onto the ground, body aching fiercely from spiritual wounds.

Moving was definitely out of the running for available options.

But what other options _did_ he have?

Riku pondered this as the agony faded to a low ache vibrating against his joints. First, and most important: he didn't know where he was, which tied into his second conundrum: he couldn't move to check the safety of his position.

Meaning that _despite_ mind melting pain, he would have to move and survey the danger he was in.

…great.

So with much a muttered string of curses at the fact that he couldn't find a Moogle anywhere for a pain relieving potion of _some sort_ (having had no need to stock up on his own kind's potions before and having no foresight to do so before leaving – he was the idiot this time wasn't he?), Riku eventually managed to stand, letting his vision clear from vertigo and time ebb away the pain slowly from every breath as his black wings shuddered painfully in twitches and judders.

It was still unsteady even then, what with every inch of his body screaming for him to rest, to sit down – _can't you see you're injured you _idiot?! – but he managed. Barely.

It was night time, which soothed him as the three previously mentioned moons shone gently down on him, making it _almost_ as bright as day. It was just dark enough that you could recognize that yes, it was supposed to be night. It was like… dusk? Or dawn. Yeah, like the sun was just ready to peak out and say hello.

The thought made Riku smile tiredly. That had been him before he had made that arrogant_ – foolish – _mistake that had plunged his home into darkness – ever so briefly as it wwas in the scheme of things – but he still struggled to make up for that terrible, terrible _sin_. And now, it was like he was sliding down a very _dark_ and slippery slope. One that made it hard to build the wall that protected his heart from the darkness.

His jaunt in the spiritual side of the realms and the loss of Ginryō had made the slope even slicker.

Riku sighed through his nose, hand rising to massage the scar tissue where Xemnas had struck him in the shoulder, it being one of the old wounds that was truly giving him the most pain, before aqua green eyes observed the plane away from the cold slab of mountain he had landed himself in.

For as far as he could see from this height, forest expanded his view, full of dark green and black undertones, dull and vibrant at the same time.

The silverette sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, before gingerly making his way down the mountain side, every step a slow shoot of pain, wings outstretched for balance. Was this how the Elders felt? So old that every bone grinded against its brother to bring aches and dull agony?

In this state, Riku didn't trust his wings to hold his weight if he did decide to spread black wings and fly. Plus, he and Sora had missed many lessons on _how_ to use their birthright while away for those two long hellish years. So he made his way down the way he had before his wings had started growing. On foot.

Where would this lead him? He didn't know, but anywhere was better than nowhere.

* * *

_It started with a train station. And it ended there as well. Or at least, that section of their story. _

_All of them didn't know it, but they had crossed into something much bigger than they had ever imagined with consequences far more reaching than realized. They had become something not human, full of digital particles and sentient life different than their own alongside their flesh and blood. _

_Something like that always left a mark. A wisp, a trace, unnoticeable but there once back in their own world. _

_Everyone else knew that they were different somehow, _strange_ almost. And so, on the anniversary of when they all met, all of them came, even the four children who had been there for the longest besides the original six, making them the same number as their digital counterparts. _

_For that was what the Legendary Warriors had been, their other halves, the soul given purpose and sentience outside of themselves and being sent through time for time traveled differently between worlds. _

_It had always been them. _

_Always._

_Ever since their birth._

_But, already he could tell that their time in the spot light was fading. It was time for them to leave their world. Both of them. For them all to fade back into the shadows to sleep. _

_All but he and his twin had done so._

_Light and Dark still needed governing. He could feel it in his bones. A storm was coming, but it was not their place to interfere with the journey but simply watch. It was all the two of them could truly do now. _

_Silent sentinels of an age near end. But there was one thing he could do. He had felt the child's entrance to his domain, and had called his younger brother to him. _

_**Otōto.**_

_An incoherent mumble. _

**Ototo.**

Wh_haaat. _

_He smiled slightly at the sleepy irritation. __**It's time to bring the egg. **__He informed his younger brother._

Wait – _now_? Nii-san it's the middle of the night! Can't it wait?

**Kouji. **

...

_**Please? **_

…Fine… _a groan over their link as his twin got up out of his bed and stretched with mild grumbling. _

_**Thank you, Otōto.**_

You owe me for this, Kouichi.

_Kouichi huffed a laugh. __**Don't I always?**__He teased before a fond smile overtook his features and he turned his attention towards the child who dwelt in his domain. _

"_Welcome child of the Night, guard of the Heart." He whispered and the dark forest in response shivered with a rustling, the night's wind carrying his words away from him._

* * *

Riku stumbled over the root that was hidden in the dark shadows and swore again. Finally throwing patience out the window along with caution he snarled a quiet spell, thrusting his hand forwards. "Lucerna!"

Immediately several orbs floated up above his head, illuminating the forest around him and allowing him to see where he was going.

The sight of the trunks sent shivers up and down his spine. They were all twisted and gnarled and was that a _face_?!

A whisper reached his ear and he twitched involuntarily, gooseflesh covering his toned and scarred arms. This forest was creepy, and it was already grating on worn nerves, making him increasingly paranoid.

Stupid forest. Stupid creepy trees. Stupid wind for sounding like creepy voices!

Riku was _not_ a happy Keyblade bearer.

_Riku…_

The silverette grimaced and shook his head with a scowl as he continued deeper into the forest. One step infront of the other, Riku. He cautioned himself.

The wind tugged at his clothes, and he paused.

_Riku!_

And suddenly, the teen was overcome with the need to hurry, to run as fast as he could. Something needed him. Something so innocent and pure that his instincts were screaming for him to _protect – save – keep safe!_

_This way!_

Riku turned where the voice directed and suddenly, he was inside a cave, glimmering with luminescent moss and his conjured light disappeared without his notice.

…_hurry… _

And Riku kept running, getting closer and closer to the source. Would he make it? For surely he was running against time and he didn't know when the countdown had started. Had it started just before the voice? Or when he had arrived on this world?

Riku didn't know and so he ran towards the unknown, simply knowing that whatever he was racing towards, it was something better.


	16. Chapter 15 - You Are Not Alone

**_Arc 1: In the Shadows_**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

You Are Not Alone

* * *

The entity of Light once known as the human Minamoto Kouji scowled sleepily at the light silver and dark purple marked Digiegg as if it were the one to ever so politely ask him to get out of his nice warm bed.

"This brat of yours better be worth our time, Tamago." He tiredly informed the Digiegg, which gave a quiver of excitement.

With a groan, Kouji slumped back on the Trailmon's soft plushy interior, closing his eyes and wishing his twin hadn't asked (ordered) him to leave before his element even showed signs of coming into full dominance.

He _liked_ his sleep, Light guide him! or else he surely would murder his twin who was altogether _too_ comfortable with going without sleep for days on end!

The silver egg in his arms bounced chidingly and Kouji grumbled but relented his mutterings about his brother's less than desirable sleeping habits.

The egg vibrated in a way that reminded the current embodiment of Light uncomfortably of a cat who had just caught a canary and scored a bowl of cream as well for its efforts.

Kouji opened an eye to glance down at his silver and purple charge, quirking an eyebrow as its vibrating turned from purr-pleased to questioning.

With another tired sigh he let his head fall back against the window as the dark scenery passed by at a blur.

"Almost, Tamago, almost." The immortal informed the still vibrating Digiegg. "_And would you stop that_?!"

The vibrating paused then with a mischievous tint started up again.

Kouji sat back up with a scowl. "You know, you'll hatch at this rate _without_ your partner. And I'm sure you don't want to see me first thing after making your debut."

The vibrating stopped instantly.

Kouji let his head fall back with a thump. Blessed peace on high!

It didn't take long for the Warrior of Light to fall back to much needed sleep.

* * *

Riku ran like he had never run before. There was an urgency that jut would not be quelled until he reached it. Whatever it was.

He had passed through the cave some time ago and now was running pell-mell through a thinning forest.

Ahead, against the prelight of approaching dawn, loomed a castle.

Riku knew with the uttermost certainty that this castle was where he was needed.

* * *

Kouji yawned tiredly, quickly disembarking from the ancient Trailmon with a quiet word of thanks second before the old Digimon chugged out of the station to head towards the Final Station, for this Trailmon was the Last of their age, the last of his kind and had finally grown too old for transporting others. Kouji had been the last one to ride with his old friend.

"Sayonara, my friend." He murmered as his silver and purple charge vibrated in a sad goodbye.

Turning, Kouji glanced at his twin who leaned into the shadows of the gates.

"We're just relics of an age past, aren't we Nii-san?"

Kouichi sighed. "When did you become the philosopher, ne Kouji?" he teased quietly to dispel the sadness lingering in the air before gently taking the Digiegg from his twin, who rolled his eyes before smothering stray hairs back into his warrior's knot with a weary sigh.

"I'm tired Kouichi." He murmered to his fellow immortal hybrid. "Tired of living like this."

"…So am I." Kouichi admitted, meeting his twin's shocked gaze. "Humans were never meant to be gods, it's why we have such a short lifespan. We can be tired, Kouji. It's our right, our nature to be tired after eons of watching."

The silver Digiegg shivered mournfully and in response the Warrior of Darkness shifted to hug the Digiegg to his chest.

"This one will bring balance to the boy's heart, ne?" Kouichi murmered softly, like a soft spoken mother about to send her child into the dangerous world for the first time.

Kouji put his hand on his brother's shoulder who leaned into the touch gratefully. "Yes. The new age has begun."

Together, the two watched the sun rise over the forest like a gentle guardian, bringing with it the light and warmth of a friend.

In the distance, racing along the now abandoned and rusting train tracks towards the castle, was a boy with silver hair and a heavy burden.

* * *

Riku reached the castle just as the sun had reached its mid-morning stretch, sweat running down his neck and causing his clothes to stick to his skin.

Once he reached the tall towering gates, he bent over to catch his runaway breath, hands on his knees in an attempt to ease the burning in his lungs.

He'd made it! Now he had to _search _for the thing calling directly to his heart.

The chime of a child's laughter echoed in his ears like a delighted symphony.

_Riku!_

The addressed boy could easily see the breathless grin by the way the child – for it _was_ a child he was _certain _of it – had breathed his name, so full of joy and wonder and ohLighthe'sfinallyhere!

It was the awe of a child seeing someone they treasured return, like a worshiped older brother returning from a war, alive and relatively unscathed but still _alive_!

Riku's heart created a very big lump in his throat as he fought back ridiculous tears.

A child… was so _happy… _because of someone like _him_? Someone so scarred and tainted, someone who couldn't back his best friends u when fighting the minions of Darkness, someone who had plunged whole worlds into Darkness just for his own selfish desires?

A child so pure as the one whispering to his war torn heart, did not deserve someone so _pathetic _and unworthy as he was.

_Riku._

This time his name was spoken firmly, obviously this child would not budge on his decision.

Riku smirked despite himself. A stubborn brat, this one was it seemed.

_This way Riku!_

And so with muted self-doubts, Riku followed the child's voice into the castle.

* * *

In the arms of the Warrior of Darkness, the Digiegg gave an annoyed rumble then started to vibrate on the same frequency of a cat's purr.

Kouichi and Kouji traded amused glances. Whateve rthat had been about, the two of them hadn't been the cause of it.

"I think the boy had made it into the castle." Kouji pointed out the most obvious conclusion.

The Digiegg bibrated in agreement, causing Kouichi's arms to tingle and the older twin to laugh. "Stop it you, that tickles." He lightly scolded, gently tapping the top of the silver and purple egg with a long pale finger.

The vibrating increased teasingly before it stopped.

"Cheeky. Let's greet your partner, yes little one?" Kouichi murmered to the Digiegg as he started walking away. Kouji stared exasperatedly after him before throwing his hand up in the air.

"Fine! Let's _not_ stay in one part of the castle! _Great_."

"It's so you don't fall asleep Otōto~!"

Kouji spluttered, just a step behind. "I wouldn't be dead on my feet it _you _hadn't woken me up before the crack of _dawn_!"

"Maa… touchy." Kouichi said with a straight face.

Kouji threw up his hands again with a muffled scream of annoyance. The elder twin fought back a chuckle, but knew that it had escaped due to the annoyed daggers being glared at his back.

Kouichi couldn't fight the amused smile on his face. His brother was so fun to tease when sleep deprived!

* * *

With the urgency lessened considerably now that he was inside the castle, Riku took the time necessary to gather whatever information on the inhabitants of the castle were left in their habitat by – well – _snooping_.

Despite the old and forbing appearance on the outside, the inside was rather welcoming and homey.

Tasteful rugs, comfortable looking furniture and beautiful tapestries were all in their own color schemes in different rooms that connected to the hall Riku was currently in.

In one it was all done in so many shades of red orange and yellow that it made the room look like it had been set ablaze and then someone had taken a picture and left it like that.

Another was like an ice palace, what with all the different shades of light blue mixed in with white.

One other room was obviously a girl's room with pink and lace all around with the rare accent of purple.

Riku exited out of that one faster than he could blink, the room burned into his retinas as his manly pride shrieked in horror at the veritable amount of _pink_ in that torture chamber.

But in all his snooping he had come to one inevitable conclusion, whoever owned this castle was _powerful_, and had a very distinguished taste in décor.

As Riku continued onwards, he notice the beginnings of mural.

_In it, Ten galliant Warrior creatures fought off a corrupted angel before becoming scattered and three celestial being took their place as rulers, the fallen angel sealed away in the core of the world. For a stretch the mural painted a peaceful paradise but all was not weel with the trinity as the Fallen Angel whispered thoughts into the giant bunny, creating a darker and more jealous ruler._

Riku flinched at the parallels he was drawing between himself just before the _mistake_ and the fallen ruler.

Memories of how Kairi had urged Sora to go without him, how the two talking with that subject had seemed so harsh and like a blow on his confidence that the two cared for him, the words made worse by the whispering of Xehanort filled his mind before he banished them with a shake of his head, concentrating on the mural.

_A war had raged, carving up the peace like a turkey to be eaten by the bloodthirsty._

_The male angel had fallen into eternal sleep and the woman angel, captured by her fallen brother in reign. _

_Then the Ten Warriors from the beginning of the mural reappeared a humans being able to transform into the warriors. _

_But there was only Five of the Ten fighting against the corrupt and Five were simply reanimated and corrupt with no humans in sight. Then at last, one was purified and revealed to be the Light's twin brother, Dark who had been corrupted by the fallen ruler _(just like me, Riku reflected).

_Now there were Six instead of Five to fight off the corruption but they were unaware of the Fallen Angel residing the core and whispering evil thoughts to the Fallen Ruler. _

_They fought hard and eventually brought down the Fallen Ruler but then the Fallen Angel was revealed and Dark had to make a sacrifice that only he was capable of doing in the name of duty, paving the way for the others to defeat the Fallen Angel. _

The sight of the devastated twin jerked at Riku's heart.

"My death was hard on them." A quiet voice said, causing Riku to jump and whirl around, blue eyes wide.

It was the twins Light and Dark from the mural! Riku felt his eyes threaten to pop out of his head. "You died!? How are you still…"

"Here? My heart had stopped but the doctors in the human world in combination with a miracle brought me back." The one with short hair said quietly, arms cradling a vibrating silver and purple egg, his twin standing just behind with a scowl.

Such strange personalities for Dark and Light, it was like they should have been flipped. Tall, dark and scowly should be darkness and the tall light and smiley should be light.

"Who are you two?" Riku asked bewildered.

"I was once known as Himura Kouichi." The softly spoken twin said with a small bow, "and this is my twin Minamoto Kouji. It's nice to meet you."

"Um… nice to meet you too? I'm … Hakumei Riku." Riku felt very out of his depth here.

Kouichi smiled. "Come Hakumei-kun. There's someone who'd like to meed you but here in the Hall of Records is not the time."

And so with much a confused shrug on Riku's part that he followed the twins who radiated _**blalance**_.

Soon, they were in a gently lit room that held very comfy plush chairs that Riku discovered molded to you in all the right places to be as comfortable as possible.

"Here, he's been waiting to meet you for a very long time." Kouichi said softly, handing over the silver and purple egg to Riku as soon as he was adjusted.

Brow creasing in even more confusion, Riku put the giant egg in his lap. "Um… hi?"

_Riku!_

The child's voice was the egg!

Once that realization passed through Riku's mind, light suddenly filled his vision as the egg cracked apart to reveal a small purple dragon with fur instead of scales blinking cutely up at him with ruby red eyes. Make that, _very _small purple dragon. The little creature was small enough to curl up in the palm of Riku's hand!

The dragon's bunny like ears twitched as a happy purr escaped it's furry snout.

Riku stared down at it, astonished.

It stared back, still happily purring away.

_Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare…_

Suddenly not content to simply lay on Riku's comfy lap, the purple dragon rose up on it's furry fins and floated up to be level with Riku's aqua blue eyes.

More staring ensued.

_**Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare!**_

Then, the little dragon went and bopped him on the nose with it's snout.

"Gin! Gin! Gin _ryo_~!" it chirped.

Riku abruptly pulled himself together as an indescribable emotion filled his chest.

With shaking hands the teen reached up to cup the tiny dragon in his fingers. "Ginryō?" he whispered, the tears escaping his eyes as he curled up protectively around the cooing dragon, muttering promises that he'd never let the tiny dragon get hurt for his sake again while the purple dragon tried to lick the salty water off his friend's cheeks, chirping "Gin ryo! Gin!"'s at him in an attempt to comfort his human partner.

Kouji and Kouichi traded pleased glances at a reunion well done before Kouji yawned and excused himself to go catch some more sleep.

Kouichi quickly excused himself as well, not wishing to intrude even more than he already had on such a private reunion.

The two souls were finally back together, hopefully _this_ time Ginryō would be able to keep Riku from getting into _too_ much trouble. However unlikely that would be.

* * *

AN: Ha! Finished early, my muse was on a _roll!_ If you wanna see a picture of Ginryō's Digiegg and his new reborn form, the links are on my profile. Hope you enjoyed the reunion as much as I enjoyed writing it! And if you're confused on how it's possible, don't worry. All will be explained.


	17. Chapter 16 - The Passing of the Torch

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

A Passing of the Torch

* * *

Riku ran. Ginryō clutched to his chest as the castle behind him filled the night sky with horrific light.

The silverette's breath came out in panicked gasps as he dove for cover in the underbrush. The little purple dragonoid Digimon hissed quietly in concern for his partner as Riku grimaced in pain, hand going to his midsection before he pulled his hand back from hot and bloody flesh with a muted gasp of agony.

He didn't scream, only because _They _would find them and then kill the both of them.

"How did this even happen Ginryō?" Riku whispered to his reborn partner in despair. Ginryō could only keen in response.

Behind his collapsed form, the once proud castle let out another plume of fire and smoke and ash, the flames illuminating the sky as if it were an exploading star.

Riku closed his eyes and _remembered_.

* * *

_**Several hours previous...**_

* * *

Eventually Riku had collected the shreds of his dignity and had stitched himself back together enough to venture out of the sitting room. But despite himself, he still found that he couldn't let his small partner out of his sight, prefering to cradle the tiny purple dragon close to his chest, afraid that if he let go, Ginryō would disappear like a washed out dream.

The silverette found the eldest twin staring out the balconied window, gazing at the dark forest and farther in the hazy distance, the tall spiraling mountain that Riku had found himself on when the Dark Corridor had spat him out; a worried expression on the dark immortal's face.

"Hakumei-Kun. Ryomon-Kun." Kouichi said by way of greetings.

Riku's eyebrows creased, smoothly becoming sidetracked from asking after the well being of the darker immortal with another question that was less important than the original one, but still important in the general scheme of things. "'Ryomon'? Don't you mean Ginryō?"

Kouichi finally turned and have a soft smile.

"Your friend - Ginryō was it?" Kouichi continued at Riku's nod, "Ginryō-chan here has been following you around for quite some time."

Riku's eyes widened. "As a spirit?!"

Kouichi nodded. "Yes. And when you landed here, Ginryō-chan was given the opportunity to be reborn as a Digimon (short for _Digital Monster_). The Digimon here are the natives in this world."

"But… you said Ginryō had been waiting a long time for me - did he arrive _before_ me?"

Kouichi's smile grew wider and more mysterious. "When you are a spirit, time becomes meaningless and does not hold you back like it does when you are flesh."

Riku blinked. Gene had said something like that too just before he had woken up in his own body. "Oh... Okay..." He glanced down at the now snoozing baby Digimon with a gentle smile and unconsciously pulled Ginryō closer in a tighter protective hold. "..Okay." He repeated firmly, eyes going back to Kouichi.

The two stood outside and gazed out at the spiral mountain in the distance in companionable silence. Somehow the Dark twin made the silverette feel... Safe. Calm.

Then, out of nowhere Riku yawned widely, jaw popping from the unusually large stretch and making Riku wince as his body suddenly started making demands for him to _rest you idiot you're still _recovering_ dang it! _

Kouichi huffed a laugh. "Looks like your partner had the right idea! I'll show you one of our guest rooms."

Riku found himself too tired to politely refuse and so followed the dark haired immortal inside from the balcony as they headed to another part of the castle.

* * *

"Hakumei-kun. Wake up, it's dinner time."

The door shut softly as a loud thud echoed in the small room followed by cursing and a spatter of irritated "Gin. _Ryooooo_. Gin-gin-_ryo_. Gin."s.

Like any teenage boy, the second food had been mentioned, Riku was up like a rocket.

But that proved a disastrous decision due to Newton's laws of motion still being in effect.

The earlier mentioned _thud_ was Riku's back and skull colliding with stone floor, his foot halting his tumble due to it being stuck in the tangled sheets against the space between wall and bed causing him to be bent in a rather awkward fashion. Thus the reason for the rather foul language.

Ginryō also had reasons to be upset as he had been sleeping on Riku's face and had been sent tumbling furry snout over furry tail out of a very wonderful dream of an endless feast with a startled squawk, having to flap his furry fin like wings to avoid a snout to cold stone floor collision.

Ginryō then landed infront of Riku with an irritated "_Ryo..._"

Riku smiled weakly at his upside down partner.

"Sorry Ginry-_aaack_!" And suddenly Riku's foot was unstuck from its painful prison and he was sent rolling as the tiny purple dragon dived out of the way with a "_Ryoooo!_" wailed in Riku's direction leaving the silverette collapsed on the ground in a groaning and cursing pile of sleepy and hungry teen.

Eventually, Riku managed to unfold from his painful contortions and popped back up with a groan and a crack of his spine that sent his raven colored wings unfurling.

"Ow." His joints popped as he stood up and he blinked uttering a final "Ow." in response then bent down to let Ginryō hop into his hand, the other hand tugging at his clothes that were still rumpled from sleep, trying to get the wrinkles out of them with a few tugs. Trying being the key word as be gave up after just those few.

Absentmindedly Riku sniffed at his clothes and promptly his nose wrinkled in distaste at the foul odor clinging to his shirt and his body itself. When had he last had a bath?

It disturbed him when he found himself drawing a blank.

Since Riku didn't know if the two twins even had running water, he decided that a freshening spell would be the most useful in masking the smell for a bit, at least while he was in pleasant company.

"Recentia!"

And with a flash of blue light and a smell akin to those Febreeze air fresheners clinging to his clothes, Riku was ready to face the day. Err... Night as it so happened to be. Just for the thrill of it, Riku paused before exiting the room and suddenly froze in a ridiculous pose, feeling rather foolish but also rather childish at the moment.

The moment was interrupted when Ginryō's stomach grumbled quietly and the tiny Digimon nuzzled Riku's arm in urging to hurry up so they could get some food.

Riku laughed quietly at himself before ruefully ruffling Ginryō's soft purple fur in apology with a finger. "Sorry Ginryō. I just..." He sighed, good mood quietly deflating. "Oh, I don't know..."

Ginryō cooed in worry, rubbing his head against Riku's still outstretched hand before nipping at his fingers as if scolding the silverette for his darkening thoughts.

Riku smiled softly in another apology and ruffled Ginryō's purple fur again before moving to open the door and stepping out where to his surprise, he found Kouichi waiting outside.

"Come on, I'll show you to the dining hall." The dark immortal said quietly with a soft smile on his face and amusement twinkling in his old blue eyes.

"Sorry... Were you waiting long?" Riku asked sheepishly.

Kouichi laughed and shook his head. "No, no. In fact Kouji takes as long to get up as you do. We aren't in any rush."

Riku felt a wave of relieve flood over his entire being. "Oh. Okay. That's... Really good. I guess."

Kouichi chuckled and the three headed down the hall to the dining hall in comfortable silence.

The two of them were kindred souls. And it gave Riku untold relief to find another just like him who _understood_ without words what the other had gone through.

* * *

The food was delicious, but there was something in the air that was causing the warning bells in Riku's heartless honed reflexes.

The silverette glanced over at the twins and found that their postures radiated wary and tense.

And suddenly everything happened at once.

An explosion sent both Riku and Ginryō diving for cover underneath the table as several Digimon stormed the dinning hall, a giant gold plated dragon, a wooden puppet, a deadly metal dragonoid and a very sinister clown. All of them had an equally evil look in their eyes and Riku knew that this wasn't a very pleasant house call.

And then Kouichi was in Riku's face, yelling for him to take Ginryō and _run_.

Riku froze, and with an exasperated roar the dark immortal grabbed the back of Riku's jacket vest and pulled the frozen teen out from hiding and _pushed _the silverette out of the way and towards the balcony.

"But-"

"I SAID RUN!"

Riku closed his eyes and then nodded, clutching Ginryō tightly to himself and running towards the balcony knowing just what he had to do to escape the enemy.

A pain filled cry and the smell of burning flesh nearly made Riku turn right back around but Kouichi's enraged yell of "_Kouji! _Riku just _GO!_" convinced the silverette he had to follow the dark immortal's order.

But just as he reached the balcony, he paused to glance over at the twins and that was what cost him precious time that could have allowed him to leave unharmed as he froze at the sight of a mortally wounded Light immortal in the arms of his older and darker counterpart.

"Get the Chosen-brat!" The evil clown ordered.

"Giga Cannon!"

Aqua blue eyes widened and Riku stated cursing as a volley of fireballs were launched in his direction, causing him to take a leap off the balcony and spread aching wings to avoid the flames. And he succeeded. Barely.

The black winged silverette had to bite back a scream as flames bit into his side, causing him to loose control of his already wobbly flight and crash into the hard ground.

But the evil that Riku had been fighting for three years had been very conductive in training the teen to jump back onto his feet if injured and still in mortal peril.

And so, Riku found himself running once more, precious friend clutched to his chest.

* * *

"Ryo!" Ginryō nudged Riku, bringing the teen to the present as a light suddenly shot out from the sky and into his hand, suddenly blinding him.

Once Riku had blinked his eyes to get the after image out of his eyes he examined the small squarish device in his hand. "What...?" He murmured, Ginryō's bunny like ears moved in a human esque shrug as the small Digimon chirped a "Ginryō!" as an 'I don't know either!'

"Heh." Riku smiled despite the pain, hand clutching the strange device in his palm even tighter in his enthusiasm. "Come on Ginryō! I don't think we can leave here just yet!"

With that being said, Riku pushed himself up and started running again.

Riku knew his best friend would punch his lights out if he knew he'd left when he could have done something to help. _Sora_ would certainly be rearing to go and help.

* * *

Um... Ok. I was expecting this to be a short and simple Riku and Ginryō reunite get some rest something blows up and Riku and Ginryō have to flee for their lives. But _noooo_ the story got away from me again. *pouts*

Anyways! Hope you all have enjoyed the ride so far! And sorry for the delay. The ending was giving me trouble and I've been writing all this on my phone. -.- my family has confiscated the laptop.

Oh and to anyone who's concerned about the word count: I had accidentally uploaded a wrong file in chapter one and that's now been corrected to the right length it's supposed to be. *sweatdrop*


	18. Chapter 17 - An Ancient Dragon is Wise

_**Arc 1: In the Shadows**_

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

An Ancient Dragon is Wise

* * *

Riku was really regretting his rash decision to stay right about an hour into his dash into the dark forest.

His injured side was bleeding profusely and the burnt bloody skin was sending fiery pain up his veins into his brain. With every breath, with every _step_, he fought to stay upright as his vision swam from the agony which threatened to send him flat on his face.

Ginryō let out a quiet "Ryuu…" as the human stopped and leaned against a dark tree's trunk, breath coming in pained and ragged gasps, eyes closed as he rested. But he wasn't still, he was swaying about like he was about ready to collapse at any moment.

"…'kuu…" Ginryō finally said softly, being unable to form his partner's name fully now that he was out of the world and still a fresh Digimon. So the small Digimon settled for simply tucking his soft cool nose into the warm skin of Riku's neck in the hopes of comforting his hurting partner.

The silverette gave a shuddery sigh and stroked Ginryō's silky purple fur. "I'll be alright." Riku assured his little dragon partner, aqua blue eyes open now and observing their surroundings warily as he didn't want to cross paths with the malevolent group that had attacked the twins Kouichi and Kouji.

His free hand going to the strange device that had appeared like his true Keyblade, it's rubber handles a dark red that faded to a deep orange, the body a dark blue that held a lightening shade near the grips and the buttons, almost like the lightening sky that he glimpsed in between the thinning trees.

Suddenly the device bleeped, braking the relative quiet of the forest, causing Ginryō to squeak and fall off Riku's shoulder while Riku started and looked around again to see if anyone had heard the loud noise before glancing down in befuddlement at the device.

A message had popped up.

With creasing eyebrows, he hesitated and then came to a decision.

Riku selected the blinking icon of a letter and opened it.

* * *

_Hurry Guardian – you're running out of time_

_The conquerors of this world are not kind._

_Find the Azule Dragon and he will show_

_Something rare and need to know._

_Then find your King and let Destiny stow,_

_And only then shall you find what you must do and where to go._

* * *

Riku blinked. What did it even mean?

As he pondered this, Ginryō let out an irritated "ryo..." as the small Digimon floated back up to Riku's line of sight before perking up and spinning around the silverette's head excitedly chirping.

"Ginryō? What…" Riku trailed off, some strange feeling washing over him, causing a decreasingly rare smile to spread across his face.

With an elated cry, his small serpentine dragon of a partner zoomed off, suddenly veering to the right and further up, going above the thinning trees. A wry chuckle escaped Riku's lips as he unfurled his black wings and pushed off the ground, quickly catching up with his small companion.

As the two flew higher, the sun began it's journey across the sky, the three visible moons above slowly starting the journey on the other side of the planet. Higher and higher went the sun; higher and higher went the boy with wings and the little dragon child.

While they flew, they were joined with strange glowing digimon that Ginryō enthusiastically greeted with bright chirps and whistles as the small baby Digimon swerved around and around their new flying companions, causing Riku's smile to broaden once more in amusement as Ginryō instigated a brief tumble midair with one of the small beings, having accidently crashed in when the newborn Digimon had seen something and had stopped midflight, leading to affronted trills and tinkling chimes that Riku assumed was the equivalent of laughter.

And then the strange giddy feeling was back, compelling them to bank right and suddenly, through misty clouds, Riku and Ginryō saw a mountain waterfall, the roar of the water hitting rocks far down below, the mist hitting their faces as they approached the mountain with it's falling river.

The mountain that the group had found themselves flying by was not the dark spiral mountain that Riku had found himself on just two days before. In fact, Riku was surprised there was even a mountain to begin with!

With a sigh Riku's feet landed on bluish grey damp rock, his black wings folding comfortably against his back, the small glowing Digimon letting out happy trills as they landed farther in, the mist cloaking them from Riku's view.

"_**Hello Guardian of the Heart." **_

Riku jumped at the ancient and echoing voice and then, the mist was blown away by a strong wind, revealing a majestic blue dragon, who was vastly larger than any other creature Riku had seen.

"Who are you?!" the silverette teen demanded, even as Ginryō trilled and flew up to rest on the gigantic dragon's head, cooing.

Amused laughter tinged with sadness rang and reverberated throughout the mountainside.

"_**Oh young Guardian, you have much to relearn in the regards of trusting your own Heart to guide you." **_

Riku's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that?! I trust my heart just fine! And you haven't answered my question! Who _are_ you?!"

"…_**I am Azulongmon, one of the stewards of this world." **_The blue dragon regarded the teen steadily.

Riku twitched, fist gripping the strange device that had given him the cryptic message. "Alright fine, so you protect this world, just like Kouichi and Kouji did, can you tell me what this thing means then?!" he thrust the device in Azulongmon's direction.

The giant dragon Digimon glanced down at the device and sighed. _**"That, young Guardian, is a Digivice and it proves that you have much to do with this world, if your partner Ryomon was not proof enough. But, your time here is hastening to a close Guardian. You must leave, as I sense that your duty is elsewhere." **_

Riku's eyebrow twitched this time. Why did all of the powerful beings in the universe that had light intentions have to be so _cryptic_ all the time?

"What do you mean by that? Why am I supposed to be here!"

"_**All in good time young Guardian, one day, you shall return with that knowledge."**_

"You're supposed to tell me something, something rare and need to know! What is it, I need to understand!" Riku demanded, annoyed and frustrated at the cryptic circles the dragon was spinning around his head.

Azulongmon regarded the young teenager standing infront of him before letting out a longsuffering sigh. Oh the persistence of youth! _**"You have something that does not belong to you, Riku; something that must be returned when you find the one Lost and hidden in the Dark's hands, before it is too late and becomes irrevocably yours." **_

And then the mega level Digimon stood, causing Ginryō to squeak and flutter to Riku's protective arms and then flew off and left a fuming teen to shout after him while cradling his small partner, "Wait! What does that mean! AND HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW MY NAME!?"

"_**The time ebbs forwards, young Guardian, the Dark Masters search for me and my brothers. It is not safe for you here in this time." **_And with that last cryptic statement, Azulongmon was gone into the cloaking shrouds of mist and cloud.

Riku groaned, before sighing and ruefully agreeing with the cryptic Digimon. It was past time he moved on.

"C'mon Ginryō, it's time to leave." And with barely a wince, the black winged teen opened a Dark Corridor and stepped through, leaving the oddly out of place, mist shrouded mountain, and the Digital World, behind.

* * *

AN:

AAAAAH! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! It's been 2 months and life has swarmed me and thrown several life changers into my path, causing mind explosions, eradication of plot bunnies and just round about craziness. I've fallen head over heels in love with this geeky, hilarious, adorable, ridiculously tall, Transformer fan whose an all-around loveable young man who loves me as much as I love him, who's stolen my heart.

My plot bunnies were swept aside for a while as I was left to process what had happened between the two of us, leaving you all in a horrid form of clifhanger-esque limbo, so for that I apologize. Hopefully, my muses will have restarted their brains more as time goes by, because this arc is ending pretty fast!


End file.
